(LifeSiteNews) — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has appealed to the Liberal government to rethink Trudeau’s plan to strip pro-life and religious groups of their tax charity status.
In a March 10 letter, the CCCB, the national assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada, wrote to the Liberal government, requesting that they abandon Recommendations 429 and 430, which would remove tax exemptions for religious and pro-life groups.
“We wish to express our grave concerns regarding the proposed legislative changes to the eligibility criteria for charitable status,” the letter begins.
“The Catholic charitable sector in Canada, anchored by dioceses and parishes across the country, includes a wide range of community services and ministries, including foodbanks, soup kitchens, refugee resettlement programs, climate and social justice programs, daycares and schools, hospitals, long-term care homes and palliative care centres, to name but a few examples,” the letter continued.
“These compassionate, purpose-driven, and accessible Catholic services are available to all Canadians, regardless of religious affiliation; these charities meet essential and sometimes complex social needs within communities nationwide,” it explained.
“A recent study found that the cost of replacing the services offered by faith congregations in Canada is $16.5 billion. Simply put, places of worship provide benefits to society that radiate far beyond their congregations,” the letter declared.
The letter is in response to legislation introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October, legislation that could have stripped pro-life pregnancy centers and religious groups of their charity status.
The legislation would amend the Income Tax Act and Income Tax. Section 429 of the proposed legislation recommends the government “no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.”
The bill, according to the finance department, would require “registered charities that provide services, advice, or information in respect of the prevention, preservation, or termination of pregnancy [i.e., destroying the unborn]” to disclose that they “do not provide specific services, including abortions or birth control.”
Similarly, Recommendation 430 aims to “amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose.”
Many Canadians have warned that the proposed legislation would wipe out thousands of Christian churches and charities across Canada.
“It must be stated clearly that this isn’t just some banal proposal – it’s a direct assault on religious freedom and the values that have built this nation, founded, as our Charter states, on principles that ‘recognize the supremacy of God,’” Campaign Life Coalition’s Pete Baklinski wrote in a recent op-ed.
Currently, in light of Trudeau’s shutting of Parliament in order to step down from office, already-planned legislation to strip pro-life pregnancy centers of charity status is on pause, at least for now.
