Charitable opinions

Re: Publicly funded ecopolitics, Joe Oliver, May 10; Oliver wrong about Tories and charity, Marni Soupcoff, May 15

Many of us would like to believe that charities have real concern for others, but increasingly it is evident that they are powerbrokers who have very singular beliefs that they wish to impose on society.

Lifting the taxation of all groups gives power to many entities outside Canada who are intent on affecting our voting. Some of these groups seem to use environmental concerns as a smokescreen for influence that is not necessarily in the best interests of our country.

The Canada Revenue Agency is the only way to have a form of gatekeeping for the taxpayers of Canada. I am very suspicious of this sudden change at the Taxation Department. Increasingly impoverished taxpayers are being fleeced by political elites. Anne Robinson, Toronto Just a week ago or therea bouts, Andrew Coyne penned a fine solution to the issue about charities over which Joe Oliver and Marni Soupcoff are sparring: eliminate the tax deduction for charitable donations and allow charities to speak their minds on whatever causes they choose. Then, the Canada Revenue Agency could stop auditing charities and redeploy its investigative effort to tracking down tax cheats. Governments could reduce our tax rates, and taxpayers could spend their money on charities they support instead of on ones that everyone else supports.

By the way, the same principle applies to “charitable donations” to Bombardier. There is no good reason for governments to make these on our behalf and to call them repayable loans just so the waste can be blamed on future governments that fail to collect the money back. Patrick Cowan, Toronto