- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
- Alberta
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $170,231.20
- Government Page
- Feb/12/24 4:10:29 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am presenting raises a concern about a proposal from the government and the Liberal Party in its last election platform to effectively politicize charitable status determinations. The Liberals proposed to deny charitable status to organizations with convictions regarding abortion that the Liberal Party does not like. This, petitioners say, would jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not agree with the Liberal Party on matters of conscience.
The government has previously used a values test to discriminate against worthy applicants to the Canada summer jobs program, denying funding to any organization for which the applicants are not willing to check a box endorsing political positions of the governing party. This proposal would amount to a second values test.
The petitioners say that charities and other non-profit organizations should not be discriminated against on the basis of political views or religious values and should not be subject to a politicized values test. Therefore, the petitioners call on the House and the government to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values or the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
225 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 11:15:01 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is a good opportunity to talk about how we are getting to the end of the year, and we are well over the NDP's red line. Do members remember the NDP convention, where the New Democrats said that they would ensure their plan is supported by the government? Then they said, “Oh, it is actually flexible.” The New Democrats continually cave to their coalition partners, the Liberals. I would say that the member should first focus on trying to get his coalition partners onside for whatever the New Democrats are proposing. There is a long history of the NDP putting forward things that would allegedly save us money; to be charitable, I will say that it does not always—
126 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/16/23 4:11:35 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the final petition I will table today raises concerns about the politicization of charitable status determination by the Liberal government, proposals around applying a values test to charitable status determination and having discrimination on the basis of values associated with charitable status determination. Petitioners note the Liberals signalled in their last election platform a plan to go down this road of politicizing charitable status.
Petitioners call on the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
120 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/5/23 10:20:35 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the third petition I am presenting deals with proposals for the politicization of charitable status determinations. The petitioners note a past Liberal Party platform commitment aimed at politicizing charitable status and denying charitable status to organizations that happen to reflect a set of values that is different from that of the Liberal Party.
The petitioners note that this could jeopardize the charitable status and the ability to fundraise of organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that are simply trying to serve the communities in which they find themselves but would not want to pass a Liberal values test.
If the member is suggesting that—
115 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/20/23 3:57:47 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the third petition deals, similarly, with an issue involving discrimination on the basis of political views. It references a 2021 platform commitment from the Liberal Party of Canada to politicize charitable status determination, that is, to deny charitable status for certain pro-life organizations. The petitioners note this would jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not agree with the Liberal Party on matters of conscience.
The petitioners note this would apply a values test for charitable status, similar to what we saw with the Canada summer jobs program, and jeopardize the good work of organizations that are not doing anything controversial but simply wish to be sincere about the private convictions of those involved in the organization.
The petitioners call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, as well as to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
185 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/23 1:17:30 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the next petition deals with a proposal in the Liberal Party's platform in the last election to effectively politicize charitable status determinations, which is again dealing with an issue of political discrimination and discrimination on the basis of political views. The petitioners are opposed to the government applying values tests or political position-based determinations for making decisions about charitable status. They call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a political and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
100 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/15/23 4:35:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the next petition I would like to table today deals with another issue of political discrimination.
It notes that the Liberal Party of Canada, in its 2021 election platform, put forward a proposal to discriminate against organizations in the application of charitable status if those organizations have views that are different from those of the Liberal Party on the issue of abortion. Charitable status rules already prohibit dishonest conduct and do so on a neutral basis, but the Liberal Party proposal would be to apply another values test, effectively discriminating on the basis of opinions on other issues and preventing organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations from being able to access charitable status on an equal basis. This is opposed by the full charitable sector. A broad range of charitable organizations oppose this proposal from the Liberal Party.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of political and religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
203 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/25/23 10:13:51 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, next I am tabling a petition from citizens concerned about the government's proposals to politicize charitable status determination in Canada. They note a proposal in the Liberal Party election platform to deny charitable status to organizations with convictions that are different from those of the Liberal Party as it relates to the issue of abortion.
The petitioners note that the effect of this would be to deny charitable status to hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not share the government's views on those issues. The government has previously used a values test to discriminate against worthy applicants to the Canada summer jobs program. This would be a kind of recapitulation of that proposal.
The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political positions or religious values, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
172 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/30/23 10:23:09 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is also on an issue of human rights and freedom of conscience and religion.
It highlights the Liberal 2021 platform proposal to deny charitable status to organizations that have different perspectives on the issue of abortion than the Liberal Party does. This threat to the charitable status of organizations that do not share the political outlook of the government could jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations doing important work. The proposal from the Liberals follows a previous proposal for a values test associated with the Canada summer jobs program. Now they want to apply it to charitable status in general.
Petitioners argue that charitable status should be allocated on a politically neutral basis based on objective criteria, not based on agreement with the political positions of the government of the day. They call on the House, therefore, to preserve the application of charitable status on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, to not impose new values tests and to affirm the right of freedom of expression for all Canadians.
187 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/6/23 6:40:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, next I am presenting a petition that raises concern about the second proposed values test we have seen from the current government. It was in the Liberals' 2021 platform. They propose to deny charitable status to any organizations that have views with respect to abortion that they consider dishonest. The charities act already contains a prohibition against dishonest conduct. However, this was targeted against those who hold views that the Liberal Party does not agree with. This proposal could jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not agree with the Liberal Party on these things. It follows a similar values test that was associated with the Canada summer jobs program that we saw in the past, which was rescinded in response to significant public criticism.
The petitioners are calling on the House and the government to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without the imposition of another values test. They also want to see the government affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
188 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/23 10:16:47 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, next I am tabling a petition from people who are concerned about a Liberal proposal in the Liberals Party's last election platform to politicize the charitable status determination.
The Liberal proposal was to withdraw charitable status from organizations where the people involved had views on abortion that the Liberal Party disagreed with. This proposal would jeopardize, the petitioners say, the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that happen to have a difference of opinion from the Liberal Party on these issues. It would hurt the many Canadians who depend on the work of these charitable organizations.
The petitioners say the government has previously used a values test to discriminate against worthy applicants to the Canada summer jobs program, denying any funding to organizations that were not willing to check a box endorsing the political positions of the governing party. The petitioners say that charities and other non-profit organizations should not be discriminated against on the basis of their political views or religious values and should not be subject to a politicized values test.
Therefore, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of those values and without the imposition of another values test. The petitioners also call on the government to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
244 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/6/22 10:40:50 a.m.
- Watch
Finally, Madam Speaker, I am tabling a petition from people who are concerned about the government's intention to bring in another values test associated with charitable status, to use charitable status determinations to discriminate against organizations that hold different views from the government on the issue of abortion.
The petitioners call on the government to preserve and protect the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values, without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the Charter right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
102 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/1/22 10:16:24 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the next petition deals with a proposal in the Liberals' 2021 election platform to politicize charitable status and make charitable status determinations not on the basis of the work that organizations do but on the basis of what their convictions happen to be with respect to the pro-life question. The proposal to exclude organizations with pro-life convictions from accessing charitable status could put at risk the charitable status of worthy organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that happen not to agree with the Liberals on that particular issue.
The petitioners note that the imposition of a values test associated with charitable status, similar to the one imposed on the Canada summer jobs program, would effectively involve meting out charitable status on the basis of the political or private religious convictions of different organizations, which goes against the core principles of the Charter of Rights.
The petitioners therefore call on the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of those opinions and without the imposition of another values test. They also ask us to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
213 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/30/22 3:59:22 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the next petition also deals with an issue of freedom of speech and expression. It is a petition raising a grievous concern about a commitment in the Liberal Party's election platform to deny charitable status to organizations that take positions the Liberals disagree with, particularly on the issue of abortion.
Petitioners note that this commitment to deny charitable status on the basis of the convictions of an organization could put at risk the charitable status of organizations like hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations, simply on the basis of the personally and sincerely held views of those who lead or work at these organizations. This proposal from the Liberal platform would involve applying a values test, discriminating against people based on their political views, similar to what we saw in the previous values test put in the Canada summer jobs initiative.
Therefore, petitioners call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of values and opinions and without the imposition of another values test. Also, petitioners want to see the House affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
205 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/28/22 3:23:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a number of petitions in the House today.
The first petition is raising concern about a commitment made in the Liberals' last election platform. They said that they plan to politicize charitable status determination, effectively denying charitable status to organizations that do not share the Liberal Party's views on abortion. This politicization of the charitable status would jeopardize the good work being done by hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that happen to have a different perspective from the Liberal Party on these issues.
This would involve the application of another values test, similar to the Canada summer jobs program values test that was previously put in place by the government and roundly criticized. Petitioners note that all Canadians who are involved in charitable activities should not face discrimination on the basis of their deeply held personal convictions. Petitioners call on the House and the government to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of a values test. Petitioners also want to see the government reaffirm the right to freedom of expression.
208 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/24/22 4:18:35 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the next petition is about a proposal put forward in the Liberal Party of Canada's 2021 platform to deny charitable status to organizations that have convictions about abortion that differ from the Liberal Party's views. This could jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that have a different opinion. This mirrors the values test used in the past by the government to discriminate against worthy applicants for the Canada summer jobs program.
Petitioners believe that charities and other not-for-profit organizations should not be discriminated against on the basis of their political views. They should not be subject to a politicized values test. Therefore, they call upon the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
169 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/18/22 1:07:27 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions I want to present to the House today that deal with a variety of issues.
The first petition raises the concern of petitioners with respect to a commitment made in the Liberal Party's 2021 election platform. That was a commitment to, in effect, politicize charitable status determinations and deny charitable status to organizations that take positions on important issues with which the Liberal Party of Canada does not agree.
They call this the application of a values test to charitable status determinations. They want to see charitable status determinations made on a politically and ideologically neutral basis that respects the letter and the spirit of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it comes to freedom of expression without discrimination.
The petitioners call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination and they also ask the House to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
170 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/27/22 10:06:45 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling deals with the issue of a commitment that was made in the Liberal election platform on page 4. The commitment was to revoke charitable status from organizations that take a particular position on a contentious social issue.
The petitioners are concerned that this proposal would have broad implications, such as removing the charitable status of schools, hospitals, refugee support organizations and many other organizations that play an important role in our communities. The petitioners want to see the determination of charitable status continue to be done on a politically and ideologically neutral basis.
The petitioners call on the government to not proceed with the proposed values test that was contained within its platform. They also want to see the government positively reaffirm its commitment to freedom of speech.
136 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/20/22 11:01:16 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, finally, I am tabling a petition that raises the concern of citizens about a Liberal plan to apply a political values test to charitable status determination. It is raising significant concern throughout the charitable sector that the Liberal plan to politicize charitable status will jeopardize the status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations just because they do not agree with the Liberal Party of Canada.
Petitioners want to see the government protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination, and they also want to see the government substantively affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression whether or not the Liberal Party agrees with them.
124 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/17/22 10:24:14 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the point, and I think I was being faithful to the rules in that respect. I appreciate the interest of the parliamentary secretary on this important issue, or an issue that the petitioners think is important, I should say.
The petitioners ask to “[p]rotect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another 'values test'” and to “[a]ffirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.”
I commend all of these petitions to the consideration of the government and all hon. members.
114 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
