It wasn’t so very long ago that Canada was debating homosexual marriage. During that time, the homosexual lobby was screeching about churches fighting them. The churches had tax exemptions, they said, and therefore shouldn’t be involved in a political issue.

The worm has turned. From today’s Star:

Canada’s interest groups have a lot to say, especially those concerned about poverty, women’s rights or the environment. And rightfully so. Their staff, volunteers and contributors care passionately about their issues. But many advocacy organizations appear to have been stifled from expressing their opinion during the current federal election campaign. That’s unfortunate. Indeed, it could be argued, this is when their views most need to be heard.

The problem is that many advocacy groups are registered charities, and federal income tax rules forbid them from getting involved in partisan politics. These rules are long-standing, but the charities were issued reminders in 2004 (when the Liberals were still in power in Ottawa). They were specifically warned that they could not endorse a candidate, post election signs and or give money to a party.

My guess? The Toronto Star editorial board does indeed think “advocacy groups” should be heard, but that they don’t include religious institutions in their view.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am and is filed under Hypocrisy, Toronto Star. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.