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Bill C-16

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1st Session, 37th Parliament,
49-50 Elizabeth II, 2001

House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-16

An Act respecting the registration of charities and security information and to amend the Income Tax Act

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act.

PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES

Purpose

2. (1) The purpose of this Act is to show Canada's commitment to participate in concerted international efforts to deny support to those who engage in terrorism, to protect the integrity of the registration system for charities under the Income Tax Act and to maintain the confidence of Canadian taxpayers that the benefits of charitable registration are made available only to organizations that operate exclusively for charitable purposes.

Principles

(2) The purpose of this Act is to be carried out in recognition of, and in accordance with, the following principles:

    (a) maintaining taxpayers' confidence may require reliance on information that, if disclosed, would injure national security or the safety of persons; and

    (b) the process for relying on the information referred to in paragraph (a) in determining eligibility to become or remain a registered charity must be as fair and transparent as possible having regard to national security or the safety of persons.

INTERPRETATION

Definitions

3. The following definitions apply in this Act.

``applicant''
« demandeur »

``applicant'' means a corporation, an organization or a trust that applies to the Minister of National Revenue to become a registered charity.

``judge''
« juge »

``judge'' means the Chief Justice of the Federal Court or a judge of the Trial Division of that Court designated by the Chief Justice.

``Minister''
« ministre »

``Minister'' means the Solicitor General of Canada.

``registered charity''
« organisme de bienfaisance enregistré »

``registered charity'' means a registered charity as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act.

SECURITY AND CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

Certificate

4. The Minister and the Minister of National Revenue may sign a certificate stating that it is their opinion, based on security or criminal intelligence reports, that there are reasonable grounds to believe

    (a) that an applicant or registered charity made available any of its resources, directly or indirectly, to an organization or person and that the organization or person was at that time, and continues to be, engaged in terrorism or activities in support of terrorism; or

    (b) that an applicant or registered charity makes or will make available any of its resources, directly or indirectly, to an organization or person and that the organization or person engages or will engage in terrorism or activities in support of terrorism.

JUDICIAL CONSIDERATION OF CERTIFICATE

Notice

5. (1) As soon as the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister have signed a certificate, the Minister, or a person authorized by the Minister, shall cause the applicant or registered charity to be served, personally or by registered letter sent to its last known address, with a copy of the certificate and a notice informing it that the certificate will be referred to the Federal Court not earlier than seven days after service of the notice and that, if the certificate is determined to be reasonable, it will be ineligible to become a registered charity or that its registration as a registered charity will be revoked.

Restriction

(2) The certificate served under subsection (1) and any matters arising out of the certificate are not subject to review or to be restrained, prohibited, removed, set aside or otherwise dealt with, except in accordance with this Act.

Non-publicati on or confidenti-
ality order

(3) Despite subsection (2), the applicant or registered charity may apply to a judge for an order

    (a) directing that the identity of the applicant or registered charity not be published or broadcast in any way except in accordance with this Act; or

    (b) that any documents to be filed with the court in connection with the reference be treated as confidential.

No appeal

(4) A decision on an application mentioned in subsection (3) is not subject to appeal or review by any court at the instance of a party to the application.

Reference

(5) Seven days after service of the notice under subsection (1), or as soon after that as is practicable, the Minister or a person authorized by the Minister shall

    (a) file a copy of the certificate in the Federal Court for it to make a determination under paragraph 6(1)(d); and

    (b) cause the applicant or registered charity to be served, personally or by registered letter sent to its last known address, with a notice informing it of the filing of the certificate.

Reference

6. (1) When the certificate is referred to the Federal Court, the judge shall, without delay,

    (a) examine, in private, the security or criminal intelligence reports considered by the Minister and the Minister of National Revenue and hear any other evidence or information that may be presented by or on behalf of those Ministers and may, on the request of the Minister or the Minister of National Revenue, hear all or part of that evidence or information in the absence of the applicant or the registered charity and any counsel representing it, if the judge is of the opinion that disclosure of the information would injure national security or the safety of persons;

    (b) provide the applicant or the registered charity with a statement summarizing the information available to the judge so as to enable the applicant or registered charity to be reasonably informed of the circumstances giving rise to the certificate, without disclosing any information the disclosure of which would, in the judge's opinion, injure national security or the safety of persons;

    (c) provide the applicant or registered charity with a reasonable opportunity to be heard; and

    (d) determine whether the certificate is reasonable on the basis of the information available to the judge and, if found not to be reasonable, quash it.

No appeal or review

(2) A determination under paragraph (1)(d) is not subject to appeal or review by any court.

EVIDENCE

Evidence

7. For the purposes of subsection 6(1), the judge may, subject to section 8, admit any relevant information, whether or not the information is or would be admissible in a court of law, and base the determination under paragraph 6(1)(d) on that information.

Admission of foreign information obtained in confidence

8. (1) For the purposes of subsection 6(1), in private and in the absence of the applicant or registered charity or any counsel representing it,

    (a) the Minister or the Minister of National Revenue may make an application to the judge for the admission of information obtained in confidence from a government, an institution or an agency of a foreign state, from an international organization of states or from an institution or an agency of an international organization of states; and

    (b) the judge shall examine the information and provide counsel representing the Minister or the Minister of National Revenue with a reasonable opportunity to be heard as to whether the information is relevant but should not be disclosed to the applicant or registered charity or any counsel representing it because the disclosure would injure national security or the safety of persons.

Return of information

(2) The information shall be returned to counsel representing the minister who made the application and shall not be considered by the judge in making the determination under paragraph 6(1)(d), if

    (a) the judge determines that the information is not relevant;

    (b) the judge determines that the information is relevant but should be summarized in the statement to be provided under paragraph 6(1)(b); or

    (c) the minister withdraws the application.

Use of information

(3) If the judge decides that the information is relevant but that its disclosure would injure national security or the safety of persons, the information shall not be disclosed in the statement mentioned in paragraph 6(1)(b), but the judge may base the determination under paragraph 6(1)(d) on it.

Ineligibility or revocation

9. (1) A certificate that is determined to be reasonable under paragraph 6(1)(d) is conclusive proof that, in the case of an applicant, it is ineligible to become a registered charity or, in the case of a registered charity, that it does not comply with the requirements to continue to be a registered charity.

Publication

(2) The Minister shall, without delay after a certificate is determined to be reasonable, cause the certificate to be published in the Canada Gazette.

REVIEW OF CERTIFICATE

Review of certificate

10. (1) An applicant or registered charity in relation to which a certificate was determined to be reasonable under paragraph 6(1)(d) and that believes that there has been a material change in circumstances since the determination made under that paragraph may apply in writing to the Minister for a review of the certificate by the Minister and the Minister of National Revenue.

Notice to Minister of National Revenue

(2) The Minister shall, without delay, notify the Minister of National Revenue of an application for review.

Information for review

(3) For the purpose of a review, the ministers may consider any information submitted by the applicant or registered charity that applied for the review and any security or criminal intelligence reports that are made available to the ministers.

Time for decision

(4) The ministers shall make their decision on an application for review within 120 days after receipt of the application by the Minister.

Decision on review

(5) On a review, the ministers may decide that, since the certificate was determined to be reasonable,

    (a) there has not been a material change in circumstances and in that case the ministers will deny the application; or

    (b) there has been a material change in circumstances and in that case the ministers will either, on the grounds referred to in section 4,

      (i) continue the certificate in effect, or

      (ii) cancel the certificate as of the date of the decision.

Automatic cancellation

(6) If no decision is made within a period of 120 days after receipt of the application, the certificate is cancelled on the expiration of that period.

Notice to applicant

(7) As soon as a decision is made or the certificate is cancelled under subsection (6), the Minister, or a person authorized by the Minister, shall cause the applicant or registered charity that applied for the review to be served, personally or by registered letter sent to its last known address, with notice of the decision or cancellation.

Review by Court

11. (1) An applicant or registered charity that applied for a review under subsection 10(1) may, after giving written notice to the Minister who in turn shall notify the Minister of National Revenue, apply to the Federal Court for a review of the decision made under paragraph 10(5)(a) or subparagraph 10(5)(b)(i). The review is to be carried out in accordance with section 6, with any modifications that the circumstances require.

Referral to Ministers

(2) If the Court quashes a decision of the ministers made under paragraph 10(5)(a), it will refer the application to the ministers for a decision under paragraph 10(5)(b).

Cancellation of certificate

(3) If the Court quashes a decision of the Ministers made under subparagraph 10(5)(b)(i), the certificate is cancelled as of the date the decision is quashed.

No appeal

(4) The determination of the Court is not subject to appeal or judicial review.

Publication of spent certificate

12. The Minister shall, in a manner that mentions the original publication of the certificate, cause to be published in the Canada Gazette notice of the cancellation of a certificate by reason of

    (a) a decision made under subparagraph 10(5)(b)(ii);

    (b) the operation of subsection 10(6); or

    (c) a determination of the Federal Court under section 11 quashing a decision made under subparagraph 10(5)(b)(i).

Term of a certificate

13. Unless it is earlier cancelled, a certificate is effective for a period of three years beginning on the day it is first determined to be reasonable under paragraph 6(1)(d).

Regulations

14. The Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Governor in Council considers necessary for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

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