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Federal suspension lifted, but Muslim charity presses ahead with case in top court

Published

2 years ago

July 14, 2022

OTTAWA — A Muslim international relief charity is telling the Supreme Court of Canada the federal government should not be allowed to “shoot first and hold a hearing later” when it comes to levying administrative penalties.

Ottawa-based Human Concern International can resume issuing tax receipts to donors now that a government-imposed suspension has expired.

But HCI is asking the top court to review the Federal Court of Appeal’s March dismissal of its request for a freeze of the suspension while a challenge of the penalty played out.

The Canada Revenue Agency levied the one-year suspension in July 2021 following an audit by the revenue agency’s charities directorate that flagged concerns about six initiatives.

Although the suspension has now ended, HCI is still pursuing the legal matter of a right to a freeze on the basis it has significant repercussions for the charitable sector as a whole.

In its application seeking a hearing in the Supreme Court, HCI says the rule of law in Canada will be “significantly diminished” if the court does not step in.

The charity argues federal agencies will be empowered to impose penalties before an airing of the issues — and prior to a determination of guilt.

“Justice will be denied to innocent parties, as government agencies will be free to extract punishments from citizens, even where the punishment cannot be reversed in the event bureaucratic error is identified at trial.”

Any other charities going through a revenue agency audit “will live in this fear of suspension,” HCI executive director Mahmuda Khan said in an interview. “And they’ll also feel like, OK, we have nowhere to go, or there’s no way to hold CRA accountable. And that’s not the position we want to have for charities in Canada.”

The revenue agency accused HCI of improperly issuing donation receipts totalling more than US$307,000 on behalf of organizations administering the six projects in question — a practice known as third-party receipting.

The initiatives included three education and health projects in India, education and skills development of orphans in Bangladesh, orphan support in Somalia and an education project in Kenya.

HCI, the oldest Muslim global relief charity in Canada, says charities often work with individuals and groups connected to the communities where the projects are taking place.

The charity insists it has always been committed to maintaining direction and control of its overseas projects and to ensuring that all such projects conducted through third-party intermediaries constitute HCI’s own charitable activities.

HCI objected to the suspension through the revenue agency’s internal administrative appeal process. That appeal is ongoing, Khan said.

At the same time, it applied to the federal Tax Court to delay application of the suspension until the revenue agency had considered the objection.

In August 2021, a Tax Court judge declined to grant a stay of the suspension.

In its March decision, a three-member panel of the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the judge’s ruling, saying HCI had not raised any error warranting intervention.

The Court of Appeal also said there was no merit to HCI’s argument that the Tax Court should have applied principles of natural justice to ensure the charity was not deprived of its right to a hearing on the merits of the matter before the suspension was imposed.

In its application to the Supreme Court, HCI says it lost an estimated $4 million in donations as a result of the suspension.

The charity has also incurred “significant legal fees,” Khan said.

HCI says while the revenue agency plays an important public function in regulating the special status of charities, that public interest can still be served by imposition of a suspension once internal appeals at the agency have been exhausted.

Federal lawyers have yet to file arguments in response. The Supreme Court is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to hear the case.

The federal revenue agency confirmed to The Canadian Press that HCI’s receipting privileges are now restored.

In a statement Thursday marking the end of the one-year suspension, HCI said tax receipts will be issued for all eligible donations going forward.

“HCI is grateful that many of our donors stood by us during these challenging times while the CRA one-year suspension was in effect. The support for our humanitarian programs despite our inability to issue tax receipts is evidence of HCI’s 40-year achievement in continuing our bond with our donors and beneficiaries,” the statement said.

“HCI worked tirelessly to minimize the impact of the suspension on our beneficiaries, including supporting tens of thousands of orphans, empowering vulnerable women, providing water aid, rebuilding Gaza, or responding to emergencies in Afghanistan and Yemen.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2022.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

News

Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

7 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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