Winnipeg New Democrat Member of Parliament, Pat Martin, put himself in the middle of a debate recently about whether government should be supporting a new downtown youth centre to be run by Youth for Christ (YFC) that will provide much needed recreation and education opportunities for at-risk youth.
Martin argued that the funding should not go to Youth for Christ because it is a faith based organization. Fortunately, Pat Martin lost that debate and the City of Winnipeg approved the new youth centre recognizing that not only is YFC very qualified to operate it, the facility is a greatly needed resource for the young people of downtown Winnipeg.
While supporting the new YFC youth centre, Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz correctly pointed out that government simply cannot provide all of the social and recreational services that are needed. Government needs to be able to partner with community organizations and faith groups like YFC. That is a point that was lost in this whole debate but is one that deserves more attention.
It is almost impossible to put a monetary value on the amount that government, and therefore the taxpayer, saves every year as a result of the work faith based groups and other charities do. These organizations deal with poverty, homelessness, addiction and provide countless other services to the community. This is mostly done with volunteer labour and relieves the physical and financial burden from government.
Ironically, it was Pat Martin himself who, after taking the wrong position on the YFC proposal, raised an interesting point a few days later about the tax deductions that charities and faith groups are able to provide donors, noting that they are too low. He correctly pointed out that while political donations result in tax deductions of up to 75%, most other donations to charitable organizations only result in a maximum 29% deduction.
He suggested that charitable donations should result in a larger tax deduction than they currently do. That is a debate worth having and it brings attention to the fact that there are so many charitable organizations, including faith based groups, that do the work that government simply couldn’t afford to do and the provision of a tax receipt goes at least part way in recognizing this contribution.
The debate should not be whether or not it is valuable to have organizations such as YFC provide needed resources to at-risk youth—clearly it is. The debate should be about whether we are doing enough to recognize and encourage the work of charities who are providing services and support in communities at a level that government could never sustain.
Providing donors to charities a greater tax break isn’t something that would just help those individual givers. It would have a ripple benefit that would touch all those who benefit from the work of community organizations. That is a discussion worth having.
