In the September 12, 2012 issue of The Toronto Star there is a story about the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) raising the annual rental fee by churches as much as 800%. One church of 60 members was paying $5,673\/year for rent – it was notified in August that its rent is now set at $44,695\/year! Needless to say, the church is looking for another place to rent.<\/p>\n
The story raises some concern and there remains ambiguity. On the one hand, we want to give the TDSB the benefit of the doubt that it simply made a business decision to raise the rent to cover its losses from government cutbacks. On the other hand, we note that the TDSB re-classified faith groups from the “non-profit” to the “profit” category – thereby allowing for the market-rate rents. That is curious given that church groups are factually non-profit.<\/p>\n
The TDSB’s decision is consistent with a growing chorus of arguments that there is nothing special about religion. If religion is not special why have special tax exemptions for charitable donations for religious groups? Why should members of the clergy have special tax treatment for housing? Why should church buildings not be taxed at the same rate as commercial buildings? And on and on the list could go.<\/p>\n
At CCCC, we are keeping watch on this and other issues that could have a long term impact on your ministry. We seek to be ahead of the curve. That is why we scan the news, keep up on the latest developments in the law, and when appropriate, we intervene in cases to ensure your voice is heard. Our current focus for the Legal Defence Fund is proactive research on the place of religion in society as it relates to the concept of charity and charitable undertakings. As judges and lawyers look for reference material on this issue, we want them to find articles and resources that provide persuasive support for giving religion a place in our society.<\/p>\n
Of course that requires funding. The CCCC Legal Defence Fund was set up some time ago to ensure we have adequate resources to defend the right of our faith community’s participation in providing ministry in the public sphere. Each year we send out this one request for funding for legal defence to our members. It is an annual reminder that we must constantly be on our guard for the welfare of Christian ministries.<\/p>\n
Your help today would be greatly appreciated. As we all pull together the burden is not heavy – together we have tremendous lifting power.<\/p>\n
I want to thank your organization for its kind consideration of this appeal.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Barry W. Bussey<\/p>\n
VP – Legal Affairs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"