Question: Regulations Governing Charitable Organizations

Senator Omidvar: Before I ask Senator Harder my question, I want to wish him and everyone else in the chamber a Happy Diwali. May your year be full of joy and light.

For right now, I hope that Senator Harder will shed light on my question, which relates to the mandate that the federal government has given itself, in particular Minister Lebouthillier, the Minister of National Revenue, and Minister Morneau, the Minister of Finance, to modernize the Income Tax Act with respect to charities and their non-partisan public-policy engagement.

The minister’s advisory panel tabled a report earlier this year in which they recommended that the government should proceed as soon as possible to modernize the rules governing the charitable sector through the development of a new legislative framework.

We have heard nothing since then. Can you shed some light on what the government is thinking and planning to do?

Hon. Peter Harder (Government Representative in the Senate): I thank the honourable senator for her question and for her wish that light be shed on all of the proceedings here, I guess. Let me reiterate that the report to which the honourable senator refers is being examined by the ministers responsible. They are looking to come forward with a response and measures that the government will initiate in the near future, and I, like the senator, look forward to those measures being announced.

Senator Omidvar: I refer Senator Harder to a particular line in their report. The panel felt that an interim legislative step was necessary in relation to political activities, and they found that present limits on political activities are confusing, which is true, costly to quantify and track — also true — and do not address the substantive issues of ensuring that charities are operating within recognized charitable purposes.

They recommend that legislative changes be introduced no later than April 1, 2018. Can we expect the government to comply with or respond to this timeline?

Senator Harder: Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question. Let me simply say that I cannot commit the government to the timeline that you reference, but I will certainly bring that timeline, as a reminder, to the attention of the ministers responsible. I know that they are diligently reviewing the recommendations, and I look forward, as all senators do, to their announcements.