Feeling advocacy `chill'?

Did you know that a charity can lose its charitable status for promoting a particular point of view that's considered political? For example, the Friends of Clayquot Sound in British Columbia has recently had its charitable status revoked for advocating against clear-cutting the old growth forest.

The prohibition against advocacy has a major impact not only on the way charities do their work but also on the availability to our governments of the expertise and information in the charitable sector.

IMPACS, the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society, along with the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, recently completed a report, based on 17 hearings held in nine provinces and two territories, in which charitable organizations -- from sports groups to environmentalists -- discussed the problem that charities "cannot freely engage in public policy debate on the problems they are mandated to address." The report from these dialogues is being made available on the internet at www.impacs.org for feedback, with the goal of issuing final recommendations by March 2002, including strategies for achieving change in the short and long term. IMPACS invites interested Canadians to get involved in the feedback on this report and the work of discussing this important issue. Click on `Have Your Say' on the website.

IMPACS is a not-of-profit charitable organization committed to the expansion and protection of democracy and the strengthening of civil society. In particular, its goal is to build strong communities by providing communications training and services to Canadian not-for-profit organizations, and by supporting free, open, and accountable media internationally.