Advocacy, charity and struggles for global justice in Canada

ABSTRACT

This article examines the regulatory, political and financial context for global justice advocacy by Canadian civil society organisations (CSOs). We find that federal regulations have constrained these organisations’ capacity for advocacy, and that CSOs themselves restrict their advocacy work beyond regulatory requirements due to risk aversion and funding challenges. Our study draws on tax data and other publicly available information, and on interviews with CSO staff and board members. Canada’s regulations on policy advocacy by CSOs changed in early 2019, but the previous legal framework continues to shape their work. To better engage Canadians in their cause, CSOs need to revisit their advocacy practice.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article examine le contexte réglementaire, politique et financier dans lequel les organisations de la société civile (OSC) canadiennes font la promotion de la justice globale. Nous constatons que la réglementation fédérale a effectivement limité la capacité de plaidoyer de ces organisations, mais aussi que les OSC limitent elles-mêmes leurs activités en deçà de ce que permet la réglementation à cause de leur aversion pour le risque et des difficultés de financement. Notre étude s’appuie sur des données fiscales et sur d’autres informations publiques, ainsi que sur des entretiens avec des membres du personnel et des conseils d’administration de différentes OSC. La réglementation canadienne a été modifiée au début de 2019, mais le cadre juridique précédent continue de façonner les pratiques des OSC en matière de plaidoyer politique. Pour mieux mobiliser les Canadiens en appui aux causes qu’elles défendent, les OSC doivent revoir leurs pratiques.

KEYWORDS:

• Advocacy
• charity
• public policy
• civil society organisations
• Canada

Notes on contributors

John D. Cameron is Associate Professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. His research focuses on struggles over Indigenous autonomy in Bolivia, representations of global poverty in NGO marketing, cosmopolitan ethics and advocacy by international development civil society organisations (see https://johndcameron.com/).

Olivia Kwiecien is a student in the MA programme in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. Her MA thesis examines the tensions between effectiveness and ethics in the communications and marketing strategies of Canadian international development non-governmental organisations.

ORCID

John D. Cameron http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3389-9732

Olivia Kwiecien http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7949-7969

Notes

1 The Commissioners for the Special Purposes of Income Tax v Pemsel AC 531 [1891].

2 A review of the mission statements of the 87 organisational members of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) indicates that 60 of them include the following among their goals: global justice, justice, social justice, ending poverty, achieving sustainable development, human rights.

3 All dollar figures in this article refer to CAD.

4 The full data set on CCIC member reports to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying for 2008–2016 as well as more detailed analysis of methodological considerations on the use of the data are available on the research website for this project (https://johndcameron.com/advocacy-lab/).

5 The 2016 annual reports of seven of the largest public policy organisations in Canada present the following figures for total revenue: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ($5.7 million); Council of Canadians ($4.7 million); C.D. Howe Institute ($6.2 million); Environmental Defense ($2.7 million); Fraser Institute ($10.8 million); Pembina Institute ($4.6 million); and Results Canada ($1.0 million).