Tax, charities rules under scrutiny
There was no shortage of reaction from social media users on Saturday to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s decision to call out a conservative site that had repeatedly referred to her as “climate Barbie.”
McKenna received hundreds of messages of support from citizens and fellow politicians after she pushed reporter Christopher Wilson during a news conference for a commitment that The Rebel will stop using the term in its articles and on social media.
Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan and NDP MP Nathan Cullen were among several politicians who congratulated McKenna on Saturday for taking a stand against what Cullen called misogynistic language.
“Good on @cathmckenna for staring down misogynistic ‘Rebel’ media,” Cullen wrote on his Twitter attack. “Words matter & cheap, sexist attacks 2b challenged.”
Paul Dewar, the former NDP MP who lost his seat to McKenna in the last election, also tweeted support for his former rival and criticized those who use “demeaning language.”
The exchange occurred as Wilson asked McKenna a question about hydroelectricity at a news conference in Vancouver on Friday.
“So you’re the Rebel Media that happens to call me ‘climate Barbie.’ I certainly hope that you will no longer use that hashtag,” McKenna said.
Wilson eventually replied that he would not personally use the name but did not have editorial control over others.
The exchange drew a flood of Twitter messages, many from people thanking McKenna for having the courage to standing up to sexist language.
“Bravo @cathmckenna for calling out the misogyny. Keep doing it for you, your girls, and all of us. Sincere thanks. #braveandstrong,” wrote one Twitter user.
But not all the response on social media supported McKenna.
Some, including The Rebel founder Ezra Levant, took to Twitter to defend the use of the nickname and continued to use it repeatedly.
“Appointed to fill a gender quota; unable to control her emotions when criticized; spends taxes on vanity photo shoots. #ClimateBarbie fits,” Levant wrote Saturday morning.
A group of experts is considering whether a niche should be carved out of the tax system to unlock billions in private cash for a range of programs that could help the homeless get off the street or boost the incomes of Indigenous Peoples.
The heads of the advisory group say the issue is one of many being studied as part of work on a federal strategy on social finance, an area that looks to link the charitable and private sectors to deliver services that have a social or environmental benefit.
What makes the approach attractive to governments is that it shifts the financial risk from taxpayers to investors in the delivery of social programs.
The federal government currently identifies 69 companies as social enterprises, such as a 35-year-old Halifax bakery that employs marginalized people, and an online sock store that donates a pair for each one ordered. But there are many more that meet the criteria and multitudes of others that want to get involved.
Rejigging the tax system was the most ambitious of five ideas presented in a briefing note late last year to the top civil servant at Employment and Social Development Canada. The ideas ranged from creating tax credits for charities running for-profit businesses with a social mandate to letting them earn as much as they want tax-free so long as the profits are reinvested in the operation.
The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the briefing note under the Access to Information Act, among dozens of pages that outline the hurdles the social finance strategy is trying to overcome.
Non-profits and charities have increasingly turned to the world of social finance as a way to tap new sources of funding as traditional sources like donations dry up.
Various estimates suggest socalled impact investors in Canada are sitting on between $2 billion and $5 billion with the potential to grow to $30 billion within a decade.
In some instances, governments pay private backers a premium for their investment if certain benchmarks are met, such as a marked improvement in essential job skills for participants. In other cases, the profits from a social enterprise go to investors, are reinvested in the business, or a combination of both.
The Liberals made their first move on the social finance strategy in 2016 through tax changes to allow charities and amateur athletic associations to be involved in a limited way in a forprofit business without losing their charitable status.
Since then, they have opened consultations on the upcoming strategy, launched a $4-million social impact bond to prod private investment into a program aimed at helping Canadians manage high blood pressure, and sent the lead minister on the file to the U.K. on a fact-finding mission.
However, through it all, the sector has told the Liberals that Canada’s tax code and the rules around how charities can raise money remain a key hurdle.
An inter-departmental task force report, also released under access-to-information law, noted community foundations and charities have abandoned ideas to start a social enterprise because it could put their tax-exempt status in jeopardy. The 2015 report suggested that allowing profits from a social enterprise to be tax exempt could put other small businesses at a competitive disadvantage, which federal officials fretted about allowing.
The Liberals’ advisory committee is studying regulatory and legal issues to see what can be done, said Catherine Scott, the committee’s co-chair.
“We hear from stakeholders that sometimes the rules are difficult to understand, or that the rules around the business activities of charities and non-profits can be problematic,” said Scott, director general of ESDC’s directorate on community development and homelessness partnerships.