M.P. Nater Disappointed by Vote on Bill C-239

For Immediate Release

OTTAWA—John Nater, M.P. for Perth—Wellington, expressed his disappointment with the result of the vote at second reading on Bill C-239, the Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act sponsored by M.P. Ted Falk and seconded by M.P. Nater. Following the vote, M.P Nater made the following statement:

“I was proud to second Bill C-239 and support my colleague from Provencher. This was an excellent bill that would have supported registered charities across Canada. It was a Bill Members from all parties should have supported”.

Currently, federal tax credits given to Canadians for donations to political parties are significantly more generous than tax credits given to Canadians for donations to registered charities. The Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act was written to amend the Income Tax Act to increase the value of tax credits for charitable donations making them equal to those of political donations.

“If the Canadian Government is willing to give a 75% tax credit for a donation of $400 or less to a political party then it should be willing to provide a similar tax credit for a donation to a registered charity that helps the hungry and homeless, fights a terrible disease or protects the environment” said M.P. Nater. “I agree with the Member for Provencher that the current tax treatment of charitable donations does not reflect our Canadian values. Feeding politicians should not be more important than feeding the hungry.”

“There are many excellent charitable organizations that work in Perth—Wellington and across Canada. By enhancing their ability to seek donations, the federal government could support the great work they do.”

Bill C-239 was defeated by a vote of 209-103. The full results of the vote are available at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HouseChamberBusiness/ChamberVoteDetail

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Contact
Keith Mitchell
Legislative Assistant
613-992-6124

How Bill C-239 would have worked:

Current federal tax credits for charitable donations are 15% on the first $200 in donations and 29% for donations above $200.

Bill C-239 proposed to raise the federal donation tax credit for donations to registered Canadian charities. Canadians donating to registered Canadian Charities would have received the following:

• A 75% federal tax credit on the first $400 of total annual donations.
• A 50% federal tax credit on the next $350 of total annual donations.
• And a 33.3% federal tax credit on all total annual donations over $750.

The federal tax credits under Bill C-239 would have then been in line with federal political tax donation credits. The same percentage benefit at the same thresholds.