To the editor:
If enacted, MP Albina Guarnieri’s scheme to strip away the modicum of privacy now granted to leaders of nonprofit organizations would prove to be both superfluous and harmful to this vital sector of Canadian society (“Bid for charity transparency faced ‘fierce resistance,” Dec. 6, 2010).
This bill, seeking to force disclosure of exact amounts earned by a charity’s five highest-paid employees may appear to be, as stated by Guarnieri, all “motherhood and apple pie,” which is probably why most of those polled agreed with its proposition. In fact, it is a proposal fabricated to deal with an issue already addressed by the Income Tax Act and the Canadian Revenue Agency.
Since 2009, CRA has required charities to report compensation ranges for their ten most-highly compensated employees and CRA posts this information on its website. Guarnieri seeks an added layer of invasive disclosure, while doing nothing to improve the ability of donors to make informed decisions about where to direct their giving.
Guarnieri’s Bill C-470 would not advance transparency. It would only erode public trust and diminish the ability of charities to attract the talent needed to advance the causes and good works they have been created to pursue.
William C. McGinly, Ph.D., CAE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Association for Healthcare Philanthropy