JNF Canada ‘blindsided’ after Ottawa fully revokes charity status. What’s next?

The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

The official revocation notice of the Jewish National Fund of Canada’s charity status, published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 10, caught many by surprise—especially JNF officials themselves. Lance Davis, CEO of JNF Canada, says the venerable Jewish charity was “blindsided” by the Canada Revenue Agency’s move because it came so quickly, despite efforts to negotiate a solution. It also came only two weeks after JNF Canada said that, if no deal was reached, it would appeal the government’s “biased” findings to the Federal Court of Appeal. Experts say losing the charitable status means JNF Canada can no longer issue tax receipts for donations; it has one year to wind down business, dispose of all its financial assets or pay 100 percent tax on the millions in its accounts, and go out of business. JNF Canada says it is now going to apply for an immediate judicial review to stop the clock on what its spokespeople call Ottawa’s “draconian” approach. Meanwhile opponents of the six-decade-old pro-Israel charity—including the NDP, the Green Party, Independent Jewish Voices and Just Peace Advocates—have been loudly proclaiming victory after years of complaints that the charity’s Canadian donors have been funding projects in the West Bank and directly helping the IDF. (JNF Canada says they stopped doing this in 2016.) On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we ask if JNF Canada was a victim of politics—or the author of its own misfortune. Our guest is charity law expert Mark Blumberg.

What we talked about

• Read why the CRA revoked the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada on Aug. 10, 2024.
• Read why the CRA revoked the charitable status of the Ne’eman Foundation of Canada on Aug. 10, 2024
• Learn more about the start of JNF’s battle with the Canada Revenue Agency, from 2014 to today, in The CJN
• Read about JNF’s financial reports on Mark Blumberg’s charity watchdog portal charitydata.ca.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner). [e-mail]
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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