The Canadian Revenue Agency notified the Jewish National Fund Canada that it was revoking the organization’s charitable status, because the government body found its original 1967 main charitable object unacceptable, the JNF said in a statement and newsletter on Thursday.
JNF Canada president Nathan Disenhouse and CEO Lance Davis announced in a statement that they had launched a legal challenge against CRA with the Federal Court of Appeal.
The CRA declined to comment on the issue to The Jerusalem Post, but according to JNF was reportedly making its decision based off of a 2014 audit, which the Jewish group said was unjust after five issue-less audits, and acceptance of the original charitable objective decades ago, that the charitable status was now being revoked.
CRA was reportedly making its decision based off of a 2014 Audit, and JNF said that it was unjust that after five issueless audits and accepting the original charitable objective decades ago charitable status was now being revoked.
The 1967 charter for the Israel-focused charity proposed to raise “funds for the employment of indigent labourers – recent immigrants in the main – on various work projects, for which they receive daily stipends . “
Disenhouse and Davis said that CRA had bypassed its usual compliance measures such as education letters, compliance agreements and sanctions before revoking JNF’s status, even refusing to discuss a new objective or compliance agreement.
Antisemitic motives
JNF suggested that anti-Zionist or antisemitic motives within the ranks of CRA may have influenced the decision.
“As a Zionist-inspired organization, JNF Canada has many vociferous antisemitic detractors who we believe have influenced the decision-making process in this matter,” said Disenhouse and Davis. “We believe that arguably there is a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the CRA. This evidence of bias comes from the CRA’s own records, which show that the public pressure on the CRA and the Minister of National Revenue to revoke JNF’s status was an important consideration within the chain of authority at the Charities Directorate. A review of the record would leave a reasonable person with the impression that this pressure resulted in a biased decision.”
JNF said that as the matter was before the court, they would continue to organize events, fundraising campaigns, and delegations to Israel.