From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Revenue Canada targets birdwatchers for political activity : CRA SOTW   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency issues warning letter to wildlife club to curb any   
   political activities   
   By Dean Beeby, CBC News   
      
   A small group of nature lovers in southern Ontario enjoy spending weekends   
   watching birds and other wildlife, but lately they're the ones under watch --   
   by the Canada Revenue Agency.   
      
   The Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists, a registered charity, is apparently   
   at risk of breaking tax agency rules that limit so-called political or   
   partisan activities.   
      
   Earlier this year, tax auditors sent a letter to the 300-member group, warning   
   about political material on the group's website.   
      
   The stern missive says the group must take appropriate action as necessary   
   "including refraining from undertaking any partisan activities," with the   
   ominous warning that "this letter does not preclude any future audits."   
      
   A copy of the five-page March 11 letter, signed by Valerie Spiegelman of the   
   charities directorate, was obtained by CBC News.   
      
   Officials in the naturalist group are declining comment about the cannon shot   
   across the bow, apparently for fear of attracting more attention from the tax   
   agency.   
      
   Member speaks out   
      
   But longtime member Roger Suffling is speaking up, saying the issue is about   
   democratic freedom and not about arcane tax rules.   
      
   'Effectively, they've put a gag on us.'   
    -- Roger Suffling, member of Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists   
   "Effectively, they've put a gag on us," he said in an interview, noting that   
   the letter arrived just after the club had written directly to two federal   
   cabinet ministers to complain about government-approved chemicals that damage   
   bee colonies.   
      
   "You can piece together the timing," said Suffling, an adjunct professor at   
   the University of Waterloo. "The two things are very concurrent."   
      
   Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq responded to the group's complaint in a   
   March 14 letter -- or just days after the Canada Revenue Agency letter arrived   
   -- and Suffling is convinced the two events are linked. Aglukkaq's office   
   denies there's any link,    
   saying the agency operates independently.    
      
   Suffling said that if government is using the tax agency as a "pit bull to   
   stifle dissent, then there's something very wrong."   
      
   The group, with annual revenues of just $16,000, has also had a guest speaker   
   to talk about the oilsands, and has publicly defended the Endangered Species   
   Act from being watered down.   
      
   Suffling said members of the group are older, small-c conservative, "not   
   radical in the least sense."   
      
   Political activity audits   
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency launched a special program of so-called political   
   activity audits after Budget 2012 provided $8 million for the project, later   
   topped up to $13.4 million.   
      
      
   Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq speaks at the UN earlier this year. A   
   member of a naturalist club in Ontario suspects Aglukkaq was behind a warning   
   letter his group received from the Canada Revenue Agency about political   
   activities. (Sean Kilpatrick/   
   Canadian Press)   
      
   The rules say a charity can devote no more than 10 per cent of its resources   
   to political activities, and none to partisan activities, but critics say the   
   guidelines are fuzzy or can be Byzantine in their complexity.   
      
   A special squad of 15 auditors has so far targeted some 52 charities, many of   
   them critical of Conservative government policies. Environment groups were   
   hard hit in the first round in 2012-13, but the net has since widened to snare   
   social justice and    
   poverty groups, among others.   
      
   So far, no group has been deregistered, but the audits have been expensive and   
   disruptive for charities, many of which operate on a shoestring.   
      
   Critics cite 'advocacy chill'   
      
   Critics say the program has led to "advocacy chill."   
      
   "What we've seen and what we've heard is this nervousness," said Bruce   
   MacDonald, president and CEO of the charities lobby Imagine Canada, based in   
   Toronto.   
      
   "Whether it is increased scrutiny, increased attention of the scrutiny, we're   
   not entirely sure what's causing it. It does seem, though, to be top of mind   
   for everybody right now."   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency officials say they do not target any one charitable   
   sector, and are choosing groups impartially, without input from the minister's   
   office.   
      
   The decision to launch an audit is also not based on any group's position on   
   the political spectrum, charities directorate chief Cathy Hawara has said.   
      
   In a statement released Friday in response to this story, the NDP said it   
   isn't buying that.   
      
   "The timing simply doesn't pass the smell test -- the CRA letter arrived just   
   days after this bird watching club wrote directly to two ministers, expressing   
   their concern about the impact of government-approved chemicals on vulnerable   
   bee colonies," said    
   Murray Rankin, the NDP's national revenue critic.   
      
   "The Conservatives' attack on anyone who questions their short-sighted   
   policies is ridiculous. It is also deeply disturbing," Rankin said in the   
   statement.   
      
      
   A snowy egret takes flight in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region. A local   
   naturalist club has come under scrutiny by the Canada Revenue Agency for   
   allegedly paying too much attention to politics and not enough to wildlife.   
   (Contributed by Brett Woodman)   
      
   The CRA has another tool in its arsenal beside audits. "Reminder letters" are   
   issued to some groups to warn that Canada Revenue Agency analysts have been   
   watching their political activities, and may launch full audits if things   
   aren't rectified.   
      
   So far, 23 such letters have been issued, including to the Kitchener-Waterloo   
   group, though the agency won't say exactly which groups are on the list,   
   citing the confidentiality provisions of the Income Tax Act.   
      
   "The local naturalists' club was silenced when its views became known to   
   government and it was silenced for voicing public concern, not for breaking   
   the rules," Suffling wrote on a recent blog.   
      
   "How many other inconvenient charities are there out there?"   
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency declined interviews. But spokesman Philippe Brideau   
   sent an email indicating the decision about whether to launch a full audit or   
   to issue a reminder letter comes after an initial screening process based on   
   internal files as    
   well as publicly available material.   
      
      
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