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Some Churches should lose charitable status: gay activist: Same-sex marriage: Faith groups seek protection of tax standing
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Churches that oppose same-sex marriage legislation have good reason to fear for their charitable status, a leading Toronto gay-rights activist warns.
''If you are at the public trough, if you are collecting taxpayers' money, you should be following taxpayers' laws. And that means adhering to the Charter,'' said Kevin Bourassa, who in 2001 married Joe Varnell in one of Canada's first gay weddings.
Liberal backbenchers have been pressing Paul Martin to amend C-38, the controversial gay-marriage bill, to protect the tax status of Churches that refuse to perform such marriages. But even an amendment won't stop Mr. Bourassa from pursuing the issue.
''We have no problem with the Catholic Church or any other faith group promoting bigotry,'' said Mr. Bourassa, himself a member of Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto. ''We have a problem with the Canadian government funding that bigotry.''
Under current rules, donations to religious groups are tax-privileged as long as the Church refrains from partisan political activity.
''They can't connect their views with any political candidate,'' said Peter Broder, the director of regulatory affairs at Imagine Canada, an umbrella organization for charities and non-profit groups.
In a press release, Dr. Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College and a senior director of the Defend Marriage Coalition, cited Mr. Bourassa's comments to renew his call for the government to scrap C-38.
''This is just further evidence that Bill C-38 cannot be reconciled with the Freedom of Religion and Conscience that form the very basis of our democratic society,'' Mr. McVety said in the release.
''This appears to be part of a campaign orchestrated by the Liberal government. Just a couple of weeks ago a memo was circulated in the Liberal caucus soliciting support for a campaign directed against Canada Christian College specifically,'' Mr. McVety said. ''Imagine threatening the educational future of a thousand students if I don't stop speaking out. If that's not an abuse of power, what is?''
Messrs. Bourassa and Varnell, who run the Web site http://www.equalmarriage.ca, said the distinction between advocacy and partisan politics is artificial.
The role of the Catholic Church in public debate is both legitimate and legal, according to Bede Hubbard, the associate secretary-general of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
''Right from the very beginning, the representatives of the government have called on Canadians to express their opinions,'' he said. ''And certainly Canadian Churches are among Canadian citizens.''
Even if the Churches are in compliance with tax laws -- with or without an amendment to the marriage bill -- they could still be subject to a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But this is unlikely to succeed, Mr. Broder said.
''It's hard to see how that would happen,'' he said. ''For example, I'm not aware of any religious group having been challenged on their refusal to marry divorced people.''
Churches rely heavily on their charitable status to encourage more frequent and more generous donations, according to Janet Epp Buckingham, the director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
Bonnie Greene, a retired United Church official who specialized in tax issues, said the charitable status of Churches is not under any immediate threat. However, the regulations governing charities are greatly in need of updating.
''In Canadian law, the definition of charitable activity is over 400 years old, based on a legal case in England,'' Ms. Greene said. ''This is not good for democracy in Canada.''
Currently, groups promoting human rights, the environment and peace are not considered charities. The rules should be changed to reflect the needs of civil society -- needs that were not present 400 years ago, Ms. Greene said.
Any new rules will need to keep faith and politics separate to satisfy Mr. Bourassa.
''During the last election, my Church removed all linkages to political non-charitable groups that were fighting for same-sex marriage from their Web site because of the political implications and the tax implications,'' Mr. Bourassa said.
And he intends to make other Churches follow the same path.
''There are charitable activities that are legitimate within faith communities,'' he said. ''Political activities are not charitable activities.''
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