Charities are Supposed to Provide a Net Public Benefit, Not Push for Changes to Climate Policies, says Friends of Science
CALGARY, Canada (PRWEB) July 31, 2018 -- On July 17, 2018, CBC reported that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled against the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) restriction on political activity by federally registered charities (Canada Without Poverty v. Canada (Attorney General) 2018 ONSC 4147), ruling that it was an infringement on freedom of speech, but the court may be making a big mistake overturning that guideline, says Friends of Science.
“Charities are supposed to serve specific, local, tangible objectives – such as “the reason it was set up (to relieve poverty), how it will accomplish its goal (by providing a soup kitchen), and who will benefit (poor people in Halifax)”, says Michelle Stirling, Communications Manager for Friends of Science, quoting from a CRA letter.
“This is not a matter of freedom of speech,” says Stirling, referring to environmental charity audits. “This is a matter of taxpayer’s money being used to subsidize foreign activism via charities for policies that are against Canadian taxpayers’ interests."
Stirling refers to the foreign funding of Canadian environmental charities as reported by Vivian Krause in the Financial Post, Oct. 3, 2016 in the Financial Post. " What is the net benefit for the public of mass joblessness and pipeline blockades? What is the net benefit for the public of tripled power prices for implementing wind and solar while 7,000 coal workers are unemployed, thirty Alberta communities destroyed?”
ClimateWorks, a group of foreign billionaire foundations and renewables investors developed a $600 million a year, decade long global plan to push for cap and trade, and the implementation of $12 trillion in wind and solar worldwide according to the Podesta Wikileaks documents. Canadian ENGOs have received millions in funding from the ClimateWorks partners.
Stirling notes that Environmental Defence, quoted in the CBC story, was granted $426,857 in 2007 by the Oak Foundation, a ClimateWorks partner, for legislation on ‘tar sands’ emissions, incentives for renewables, and to ensure that “Canada’s cap and trade system is as strong as possible…”
Stirling notes that Canadian charities have already engaged in almost unfettered political activity. They are critical of Ecojustice Canada's campaign against the National Energy Board, a globally respected infrastructure review board, operating for 60 years, as reported on the blog Watts Up With That, Dec 3, 2015.
According to their grant database online, Oak Foundation funded West Coast Environmental Law for USD$97,131 “to constrain development of Alberta’s tar sands through a legislative ban on crude oil tankers on British Columbia’s north coast. This would necessitate the cancellation of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposed to transport tar sands oil and bitumen to Asian markets.”
Stirling says: “That looks like a trade war, not charitable activity. Freedom of speech is a charter right in Canada, but it should not mean that taxpayers are forced to subsidize 'uncharitable' activism that puts them out of work. Anyone is free to advocate on their own dime. Charities should provide a tangible net benefit, not economic obstruction for offshore interests, based on hyperbolic climate catastrophe claims."
About
Friends of Science Society is an independent group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens who are celebrating its 16th year of offering climate science insights. After a thorough review of a broad spectrum of literature on climate change, Friends of Science Society has concluded that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO2).
Friends of Science Society
P.O. Box 23167, Mission P.O.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2S 3B1
Toll-free Telephone: 1-888-789-9597
Web: friendsofscience.org
E-mail: contact(at)friendsofscience(dot)org
Web: climatechange101.ca
Michelle Stirling, Friends of Science, http://www.friendsofscience.org/, +1 5879682595, [email protected]
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