Attack by audit
Earlier this summer, the CRA forced Oxfam Canada to change its charitable purpose statement from “prevention of poverty” to “alleviation of poverty” because, according to government policy, preventing poverty is not a charitable cause. Yet given the documented evidence that poverty has negative health, social and economic impacts, one could argue that preventing it would be more charitable than waiting to offer help after harm has been done. Not so, say government officials, and their word trumps the donors to Oxfam who would like it to focus more attention on preventing poverty. But if Oxfam does what its donors want, it risks losing its charitable license. The organization was forced to comply with CRA’s demands.
