The United Church of Canada and the ecumenical coalition Kairos are undergoing an audit focused on how much they spend on political activities.
The United Church administers Kairos on behalf of the 11 member churches and church agencies that support the social justice organization.
Jennifer Henry, executive director of Kairos, said her organization has yet to receive any comments or guidance from the Canadian Revenue Agency as a result of the ongoing audit, which began about a year ago. But “the United Church and Kairos are always open to receiving feedback,” she said.
Registered charities are permitted to use no more than 10 per cent of their revenues for political activities, and are forbidden from taking part in partisan activities, such as endorsing a candidate or party.
The federal government’s 2012 budget included $8 million for the CRA to use in investigating charities and enforcing the regulations placed on the political activities they undertake. The audit of the United Church is one of 52 such audits being carried out by the CRA.
“The collection of documents for the auditors takes significant time but without any feedback this is the extent of the impact to date,” Henry said. “Kairos continues in our mandate, a faithful ecumenical response to Micah 6:8 … The vast majority of our work is charitable, none of our work is partisan, and that which fits the definition of political activity under the act is tracked.
“It is critically important that we, as communities of faith, engage in the public square as advocates for human rights, economic and ecological justice. … The public witness to which we are called is an important contribution to a fairer and more just Canada and can be done clearly and boldly within the current legislation.”
