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House Hansard - 138

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 138 - Nov/30/22
Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)
  • Nov/30/22 3:59:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition also deals with an issue of freedom of speech and expression. It is a petition raising a grievous concern about a commitment in the Liberal Party's election platform to deny charitable status to organizations that take positions the Liberals disagree with, particularly on the issue of abortion. Petitioners note that this commitment to deny charitable status on the basis of the convictions of an organization could put at risk the charitable status of organizations like hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations, simply on the basis of the personally and sincerely held views of those who lead or work at these organizations. This proposal from the Liberal platform would involve applying a values test, discriminating against people based on their political views, similar to what we saw in the previous values test put in the Canada summer jobs initiative. Therefore, petitioners call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of values and opinions and without the imposition of another values test. Also, petitioners want to see the House affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
205 words
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