(This letter to Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, was copied to Coast Reporter.)
Dear Ms. Goldsmith-Jones:
I am very disappointed that the Trudeau government has decided to challenge the recent court decision that allows charities to engage in non-partisan political activity. Charities have been fearful of even going so far as to ask their supporters, as a group, to urge the government to make needed changes lest this be interpreted as “political” and cause the organization to lose its charitable status. This is ridiculous.
Charities need to be allowed to lobby the government. Why are big corporations, one of the most destructive forces countering our democracy, allowed to lobby government, while charities that try to make the world a better place are not? Why has a blatantly right-wing organization, the Fraser Institute, not been threatened with losing its charitable status, while anti-poverty groups have?
Mr. Trudeau promised to fix this – instead he is appealing a progressive court ruling that really can fix it. What gives?
Anne Miles, Gibsons
