Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture v. Canada, (2002) 302 N.R. 109 (FCA)

• Judge: Décary, Létourneau and Nadon, JJ.A.
• Court: Federal Court of Appeal (Canada)
• Case Date: December 04, 2002
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2002), 302 N.R. 109 (FCA);2002 FCA 499

ACAT v. Can. (2002), 302 N.R. 109 (FCA)

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[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2002] N.R. TBEd. DE.049

L'Action des Chrétiens pour l'abolition de la torture (L'A.C.A.T.) (appelante) v. Sa Majesté la Reine et Maureen Kidd, en sa qualité de Directeur général de la Direction des organismes de bienfaisance de l'Agence des douanes et du revenu Canada (intimées)

(A-805-00; 2002 FCA 499; 2002 CAF 499)

Indexed As: Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture v. Canada

Federal Court of Appeal

Décary, Létourneau and Nadon, JJ.A.

December 16, 2002.

Summary:

The Minister of National Revenue revoked the registration of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) as a char­ity within the meaning of s. 149.1(1) of the Income Tax Act because of ACAT's alleged involvement in political activities. ACAT appealed.

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Income Tax - Topic 7533

Exemptions - Particular exemptions - Charitable organizations - The Minister of National Revenue revoked the registration of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) as a charity within the meaning of s. 149.1(1) of the Income Tax Act because of ACAT's alleged involve­ment in political activities - The Minister claimed that ACAT had been using pres­sure tactics, such as letters and postcards, to convince governments to act in accord­ance with the opinions of ACAT concern­ing questions of public or political interest - The Minister concluded that these pres­sure tactics constituted political activities and constituted about 50% of ACAT's activities - ACAT appealed - The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal - The court stated that the Minister's deci­sion that ACAT was involved in political activities which exceeded the permitted 10% tolerance threshold was unassailable and the notice of revocation of ACAT's charity registration must proceed - See paragraphs 1 to 71.

Income Tax - Topic 7533

Exemptions - Particular exemptions - Charitable organizations - The Minister of National Revenue revoked the registration of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) as a charity because, inter alia, the Minister determined that political activities represented 50% of ACAT's overall activities - The Federal Court of Appeal held that it would not intervene with the Minister's conclusions regarding the percentage of ACAT's activi­ties that were of a political nature unless there was a clear or palpable error - How­ever, the characterization of ACAT's pres­sure tactics as political activ­ities within the meaning of the case law and the Income Tax Act was a conclusion of law and the standard of review was that of correctness - See paragraphs 23 and 24.

Income Tax - Topic 7533

Exemptions - Particular exemptions - Charitable organizations - The Federal Court of Appeal discussed the concept of "political purposes" in the context of tax exemptions for charities - The court con­cluded that the exercise of moral pressure on governments was a political purpose or activity - See paragraphs 34 to 53.

Income Tax - Topic 7533

Exemptions - Particular exemptions - Charitable organizations - The Federal Court of Appeal summarized the procedure the Minister of National Revenue must follow in registering a charity or revoking its registration - The court stated that: "- the inquiry must focus not only on the activities of the organization but also on its purposes; - in principle, the organization must be constituted exclusively for chari­table purposes; however, it will not be disqualified solely because one of the purposes is non-charitable if that purpose, in reality, is only a means to carry out the charitable purposes; in other words, this purpose is not an end in itself, but is ancil­lary to the charitable purposes rather than a collateral purpose; - it is necessary to consider the nature of the activities pres­ently carried on by the organization as a potential indicator of whether it has since adopted other purposes; - the organization may engage in political activities so long as they are ancillary to the charitable pur­poses and/or they do not account for more than a percentage, estimated at about 10% by the Minister, of the overall activities of the organization" - See paragraph 20.

Words and Phrases

Political activities - The Federal Court of Appeal discussed the meaning of this phrase as it was used in s. 149.1(6.2) of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985 (5th Supp.), c. 1 - See paragraphs 54 to 65.

Cases Noticed:

Alliance for Life v. Minister of National Revenue, [1999] 3 F.C. 504; 242 N.R. 106 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 17].

Vancouver Society of Immigrant and Vis­ible Minority Women v. Minister of National Revenue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 10; 234 N.R. 249, refd to. [para. 20].

Harvard College v. Commissioner of Pat­ents (2002), 296 N.R. 1 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 24].

McGovern v. Attorney General, [1981] 3 All E.R. 493 (Ch. Div.), refd to. [para. 34].

Positive Action Against Pornography v. Minister of National Revenue, [1988] 2 F.C. 340; 83 N.R. 214 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 37].

Human Life International in Canada Inc. v. Minister of National Revenue, [1998] 3 F.C. 202; 232 N.R. 174 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 37].

Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2002), 281 N.R. 1 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 41].

Jackson v. Phillips (1867), 96 Mass. 539 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 50].

Brewer v. Canada (Treasury Board) (1980), 27 L.A.C.(2d) 201 (Can. P.S.S.R.B.), refd to. [para. 65].

Statutes Noticed:

Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985 (5th Supp.), c. 1, sect. 149.1(1) [para. 1]; sect. 149.1(6.2) [para. 56].

Counsel:

Mathieu Bouchard, Guy Du Pont and Philippe Buist, for the appellant;

Anne-Marie Lévesque and Jade Boucher, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, Montréal, Quebec, for the appellant;

Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Attorney Gen­eral of Canada, Department of Justice, Montréal, Quebec, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on December 4, 2002, at Montréal, Quebec, before Décary, Létourneau and Nadon, JJ.A., of the Federal Court of Appeal. Décary, J.A., delivered the following judgment for the court on Decem­ber 16, 2002.