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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 www.elsevier.com/locate/polsoc Nonprofit engagement with provincial policy officials: The case of NGO policy voice in Canadian immigrant settlement services Bryan Evans *, John Shields 1 Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3 Abstract This paper explores the role of nonprofit organizations in the immigrant settlement and integration sector in the public policy process in three Canadian provinces. Drawing on thirty one (31) semi-structured interviews with nonprofit and mid-level policy officials (working for a provincial government) in three provinces (Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan), the place of nonprofit agencies in providing input and voice to policy issues in the area of settlement and integration services is presented. Issues regarding the willingness to use advocacy/voice with government funders, the usefulness of government consultations, strategies used in approaching government, the role of research in making evidence-based cases regarding policy and program change, among other considerations are examined. The assessments provided by key nonprofit actors and government policy officials are used to bring better understanding of the perceived roles of nonprofit organizations in the daily work of policy. # 2014 Policy and Society Associates (APSS). Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction: research context This article explores the role of nonprofit organizations in the immigrant settlement and integration sector in the public policy process in three of Canada’s provinces. Using semi-structured interviews with non-government and mid-level provincial government policy workers in three provinces (Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan) the real influence of non-governmental agencies in providing input and voice to policy issues in this policy field at the sub-national level is presented. This study seeks to critically examine the assumption of New Public Governance (NPG) theory that frames policy work as a multi-actor exercise through an exploration of advocacy/voice by nonprofit agencies, the effectiveness of government policy consultations, strategies used by nonprofit agencies in opening policy dialogue with government, and the role of evidence-based research in policy and program change. The assessments of key non-governmental actors and government policy officials of these policy advocacy activities are used to bring better understanding of the role of NGOs in the daily work of policy engagement with provincial governments. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 416 979 5000x4199. E-mail addresses: b1evans@politics.ryerson.ca (B. Evans), jshields@politics.ryerson.ca (J. Shields). 1 Tel.: +1 416 979 5000x6167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polsoc.2014.05.002 1449-4035/# 2014 Policy and Society Associates (APSS). Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 118 B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 2. Immigrant settlement and integration services The focus of this case study is immigrant settlement and integration services provided by the province but delivered by nonprofit service providers. This makes a particularly compelling case study because there has been a long relationship between government in Canada and nonprofit organizations in the provision of supports for newcomers to this country. This Canadian model of settlement services has generated considerable interest internationally, and has often been seen as a case of best practice. The reshaping of this NGO-government relationship, within the context of New Public Management (NPM) reforms, has in more recent years placed more strain on this form of NGOgovernment ‘partnership’ (Halligan, 2011; Richmond & Shields, 2005). Historically this policy area (settlement services) has been the primary domain of the Federal Government. Even though immigration is one of those constitutionally shared areas of jurisdiction the federal government has led the development of settlement services. A more substantive provincial role, beyond the special role the Province of Quebec has assumed beginning in the late 1960s, in direct support for immigrant settlement within their territory is of more recent origin (Atkinson et al., 2013, 14–15). The greater provincial presence in this policy area has emerged for a variety of reasons. Primary among these have been the impact of neoliberal governance models which have centered on devolving responsibilities. The provincial involvement in these services has however developed unevenly and the place and impact of immigration varies considerably across provinces. Both Ontario and British Columbia have been long standing traditional locations of newcomer settlement, particularly the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver which continue to receive the largest share of incoming immigrants. In fact, more than 70% of the foreign born population in Canada is found in these two provinces (Statistics Canada, 2013, 9). By contrast, Saskatchewan, until recently, struggled to maintain even its domestically born population base, has begun to attract a newcomer population and has undertaken more aggressive recruiting to feed the province’s rapidly expanding labor market. Its share of the annual landings of newcomers, while still very modest, increased from 1.5% (4835) to 2.7% (6890) of Canada’s total between 2007 and 2009 (Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration, 2009, 4). Overall, Canada according to our latest 2011 Census enjoys the highest proportion of foreign born population among the G8 rich nations at 20.8% (CBC, 2013). While historically immigration and settlement policy in Canada has been largely set nationally, settlement and integration remains inherently a process that takes place at the sub-national level (Vengroff, 2013) this helps to explain why locally-based NGOs have taken the lead in settlement provision. The density and range of NGO settlement service providers in BC and Ontario, particularly in the larger urban areas, have been considerable and the development of settlement infrastructure took strong roots in these provinces by the 1970s (Biles, Tolley, Andrew, Esses, & Burstein, 2011; Hiebert & Sherrell, 2011). Saskatchewan developed much later in this regard and are only now building capacity (Garcea, 2011). Sector wide umbrella organizations in settlement formed at the provincial level in BC (Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA)) and Ontario (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)) in the late 1970s and took a decade longer to emerge in Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Association of Immigrant and Settlement Integration Agencies (SAISIA)). Their role in research, policy development and direct mandates for political advocacy varies as well. OCASI embraces all three roles, AMSAA does not do political advocacy, and SAISIA does not have a mandate for either research or political advocacy, although they all do engage in other collective voice and government engagement functions (OCASI & CISSA, 2014: 32, 2–6). The Province of BC was one of the earlier sub-national governments to take on a greater role in settlement and immigration. This was greatly facilitated by an agreement between BC and the Federal Government which started in 1998 to devolve with funding settlement services to the province (Hiebert & Sherrell, 2011, 82–83). Currently however, as part of wide ranging set of Federal reforms to immigration policy this agreement has been canceled and settlement is being ‘repatriated’ back to the national government. This has caused considerable anxiety and confusion among settlement organizations in the province. The Province of Ontario also got a settlement devolution agreement with the Federal Government but the national government has refused to renew this 5 year arrangement. Ontario has had for a considerable period of time a separate department, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI), which handles immigration issues (Biles et al., 2011). Saskatchewan by contrast has never had a settlement agreement with the Federal Government and the immigration portfolio has regularly shifted between different ministries (Garcea, 2011). Settlement services are about providing various forms of support and assistance to immigrant populations which help newcomers get established in, and meet their core needs/requirements, for their integration into their new B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 119 homeland. The goal of settlement services is to support immigrants’ short and longer-term needs to make the transitions toward being able to fully participate in the economy and society. Immigrant settlement and integration, and the services associated with these goals are characterized by the following: - Adjustment: acclimatization and getting use to the new culture, language, people and environment or coping with the situation. - Adaptation: learning and managing the situation without a great deal of help. - Integration: actively participating, getting involved and contributing as citizen of a new country (OCASI & COSTI, 1999: Chapter 2, 1). Settlement services tend to be focused in the areas of: (1) language acquisition and proficiency; (2) employmentrelated services; (3) housing; and (4) information workshops and settlement counseling services. Settlement and integration policies are more than just administrative decisions, they are also established programs and practices that provide a general reflection of what the society believes should be the place of immigrants in their communities (Siemiatycki & Triadafilopoulos, 2010). Moreover, these policies point to the warmth of the newcomers welcome (Reitz, 1998) to their new society, and the policies provide something of a blueprint regarding how and by what paths immigrants will be supported in their journey toward accommodation, acceptance and integration. Given that newcomers constitute a vulnerable population, especially since some 70% of them are identifiable minorities, nonprofit organizations and frontline agencies that service this population have a special role to play in giving voice to newcomer concerns and interests to government policymakers. 3. Context setting: NGO advocacy and developments in governance and public administration – a brief overview Advocacy is one of the key roles that nonprofit NGOs play within modern society. Providing a voice to the communities they serve, especially vulnerable ones, is important for democracy and, in the case of immigrants, for their effective integration into society (Evans & Shields, 2010; Richmond & Shields, 2005; Shragge, 2013, 47). Laforest (2001, 8) has defined advocacy broadly as ‘‘the act of voicing the concerns and needs of the constituency, conveying their opinion and representing their interest to the state’’. Carter, Plewes, and Echenberg (2005, 6) have categorized the policy voice role of nonprofit organizations as involving the following categories: ‘‘(1) identifying issues on the policy agenda; (2) developing policy solutions through research and analysis, i.e. policy-ready research; and (3) promoting particular policy solutions’’ which includes mobilizing, protesting and demonstrating, lobbying government and other forms of advocacy including dialoguing with government. One useful way of thinking about nonprofit advocacy is what Creese has called ‘big advocacy’ versus ‘small advocacy’. Big advocacy involves employing a more public form to addressing policy change which includes ‘‘challenging government programs and policies that affect immigrants, refugees and settlement workers’’ (1998, 28). ‘Small advocacy’ concerns activities that involve more ‘behind the scenes’, day to day interface and ‘consultation’ that occurs between state officials and NGO personnel (Creese, 1998, 27). The advocacy on the part of nonprofits that takes place here means taking on something of an insider role where educating officials rather than confronting the state becomes the focus. Of course, as Gormley and Cymrot note, the effectiveness of insider strategies rests on the presumption that meaningful access to government exists and that the NGOs are listened to and have a reasonable ability to actually influence the policy and programming (2006, 104). This study is particularly centered around examining the ‘small advocacy’ role of nonprofits in settlement and integration policy. Wayland reminds us that nonprofit advocacy is about relationships that involve engagement with the state resulting in ‘‘both collaboration and conflict’’ (Wayland, 2006: 1). Insider strategies rest upon a collaboration focus. Jedwab, for one, maintains that in the immigration field that the best and most successful relationships between nonprofits and governments have been constructed upon the foundations of consultation and consensus building rather than competition and conflict (Jedwab, 2002, 77). This, however, presupposes openness and the state accepting nonprofit organizations as partners in a larger policy process. Numerous analysts do not see such an approach as matching current reality (Caragata & Basu, 2013, 329–330; Shragge, 2013), while others see more openness in the Canadian policy process (Burstein, 2010; Tolley, Biles, Vineberg, Burstein, & Frideres, 2011). 120 B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 Clearly the dominant governance paradigm concerning state–society relationships, policy development and state– nonprofit relationships are important for determining the kind of interaction that is likely to shape nonprofit voice. Contemporary Canadian public policy has been guided by neoliberalism which has structured public administration through the adoption of NPM (Shields & Evans, 1998). One significant result has been a marketization of the state– nonprofit relationship where noprofits have been recast as an alternative service delivery agent (Alford & O’Flynn, 2012; Kelly & Caputo, 2012; Shields & Evans, 1998). This relationship has been particularly governed by the state’s use of short term contract financing of programs which nonprofit organizations are compelled to compete for. The relationship between the state and nonprofit service providers is reframed less around policy co-production (Alford, 2002) toward one built on vertical control and accountabilities which actually extend the government regulation of the sector (Phillips and Smith, 2011, 3). Thus, government-funded nonprofits have been characterized as the ‘shadow civil service’ (Laforest, 2011, 37). The use of contract financing has created competitive quasi-markets for service delivery (Mclaughlin, Osborne, & Ferlie, 2002). While this has succeeded in restructuring the nonprofit service sector along quasi-market lines, from a community perspective, many negative consequences have resulted entailing unintended and undesirable outcomes. Examples include competition that leads to significant fragmentation of services; insufficient nonprofit providers to promote effective competition (Phillips & Smith, 2011, 3); the short-term nature of contracts and their under-financing which compromises the ongoing viability of delivery organizations (Eakin, 2005); and excessive accountability rules that result in more compliant agencies, at the price of excessive administrative costs and the stifling of innovation; all of which seriously compromises optimal service provision. Problems of administrative ‘red tape’ have been identified as helping to ‘kill the nonprofit golden goose’ (Smith & Smyth, 2010). Such administrative accountability challenges have been forcefully raised by the Federal Government’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Grants and Contributions which is supported by the nonprofit sector (Burstein, 2010: 3) but little in the way of adoption of these reforms have yet been forthcoming, especially at the national level. A significant consequence of the contract funding regime for settlement services is that nonprofit NGOs have very limited resources with which to take on their advocacy role. The agencies are further required to engage in competitive bidding against each other in order to win a contract. And there is the additional tension created where there is a ‘‘desire to engage in effective advocacy, with the government as their primary target, yet they depend heavily on government funding’’ (Wayland, 2006, 3). This can result in ‘advocacy chill’. At the Federal level in particular there has been evidence of such a chill and even threats to the charitable status of some vocal NGO advocates (Douglas, 2012; Tides Canada, 2012). Andrew Griffith, a former CIC senior official, makes note of how political staff in Ottawa have been looking closely at nonprofit service providers to ensure that they are not misaligned with the policy priorities of the government (Griffith, 2013). The economic crisis of 2008 which has brought forward a wide ranging austerity agenda has placed additional stress on the NGO settlement sector. Rising levels of unemployment and social dislocation among newcomers has increased demand for services at the very time that settlement funding is being cut (Shields, 2014). This is promoting a widespread restructuring and ‘rationalization’ of government settlement support (Burstein, 2010: 2) which has further taxed the capacity of the sector. Thus the neoliberalization of the nonprofit sector discourages traditional advocacy roles which become framed by government as special interest activities (Evans & Shields, 2010). But the decentralization and devolution of the state has opened up gaps which NGOs can fill. Specifically, as the state’s research capacities have been diminished and the state may be compelled to rely upon more outside input in developing public policy. Within public administration, the limitations of NPM have spurred the promotion of the New Public Governance (NPG) model of an emerging pluralist relationship between the state and non-governmental actors (Osborne, 2010). NPG identifies the need for a shift to horizontal accountability and co-governance while moving away from narrow command and control, rule compliant structures. The end result is policy co-production marked by collaborative relationships in which power is shared and where the advocacy role of nonprofit providers is recognized as an important function (Baldwin & Black, 2008). NPG includes enhanced and more flexible funding supports that have longer time horizons and which promote networks over cut-throat competition (Phillips & Smith, 2011, 4–6). A consequence of the shrinkage of state policy capacity is the need for a more collaborative and inclusive practice of policymaking (Baskoy, Evans, & Shields, 2011). Partnerships within the nonprofit sector are based on mutual trust and power sharing. However, competitive contractualization and the resulting marketization of the sector has transformed this culture. The movement toward NPG would go some distance in constructing more equitable partnerships and more meaningful and less disruptive B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 121 Table 1 Distribution of settlement services policy officials interviews. Government officials Ontario British Columbia Saskatchewan Total Nonprofit officials 5 5 4 6 6 5 14 17 = 31 accountability measures. The question remains as to whether there is evidence of such a shift toward this NPG paradigm. Examining the nature of the interaction between mid-level government policy officials and NGO policy actors, and the scope given to nonprofit voices in policy, is the focus of this study. The extent and quality of policy interaction at this level should provide some measure of the uptake of NPG approaches to policy governance in the sub-national immigrant services arena. Our findings suggest, however, that meaningful policy engagement between provincial governments and the NGO settlement sector remains limited. 4. Methodology The research presented here employed 31 semi-structured interviews with key informants working for non-profit immigrant settlement services agencies and with policy workers in the provincial government ministry responsible for co-ordinating and developing policy affecting the sector. Consult Table 1 for the breakdown of interviews conducted by province. The government-based interviews were drawn from public servants occupying the ranks of policy and program advisors, analysts and managers involved in various dimensions of immigrant settlement and integration activities. The nongovernmental participants came from a range of not-for-profit organizations whose work engaged immigrant populations as it related to settlement and integration. These nonprofit organizations ranged from smaller frontline immigrants settlement service agencies to large multi-service organizations to organizations with a more explicit research, planning and advocacy mandate. An internet search was used to find potential interview subjects and referrals from earlier interviewees were sometimes used to identify other potential interview candidates. This was a nonrandom sample. The interviews were conducted between the summer of 2012 and May 2013. The interview questions followed a semi-structured format but the interviewer was free to pursue lines of inquiry that arose during the discussion. The interviews were about one hour in length. All transcriptions were coded to identify key themes and issues using a double blind coding procedure. The interviews were not designed to be a statistically representative sample but they do enable us to identify and explore overarching themes, issues and perspectives derived directly from actors engaged in various positions in the policy process. This provides us with a unique opportunity to capture the lived policy experience of these actors and develop a rich and deep level of analysis of the content of the interviews. While the policy capacity of government has been challenged by the shrinkage in the size and resources of the civil service (Baskoy et al., 2011), the advocacy, research and policy capacities of nonprofit organizations have been even more constrained due to strict funding rules and funding cutbacks by governments who are the key source of financing of human and social service nonprofit agencies (Evans, Richmond, & Shields, 2005). Given the lean nonprofit workforce this entails and the continuous pressure to do ever more with less, few nonprofit organizations have the ability to devote staff to dedicated policy positions. Indeed, in the three provinces examined here, 67.2% of NGOs were found to have no staff dedicated exclusively to policy work. In contrast, only 14.5% of government respondents indicated that there were no dedicated policy staff (Evans & Wellstead, 2013, 71). Consequently, for NGOs, policy work is very often performed ‘on the side of the desk’. 5. A qualitative examination of policy interaction in settlement services: emerging themes and issues under ‘voice’ The interviews probed the theme of the place and role of the voice of NGOs in immigrant settlement and integration policy. The goal was to give scope to the voices of those who have experience in engaging with the public policy 122 B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 process. This allowed the identification of a number of sub-themes and issues related to the overarching theme of nonprofit agency voice. While there were different experiences and observations regarding nonprofit actors’ engagement with provincial policy officials, there is also considerable consensus relating to these experiences. Listening to these voices allow for the exploration of a deeper understanding of themes and issues which are not able to be fully captured in the raw numbers of surveys. Interviews can provide us with a sense of the meaning behind and seeing beyond the numbers. In addressing the question of nonprofit voice, the interviews focused on those from the NGO community. However, we also looked at the government perspective. These interviews provide insight into the government understanding and purpose of consultations with non-governmental organizations. To better understand public servants’ perspectives on such issues is important in order to comprehend how closely government and nonprofit-based views correspond, as well as to assess the overall possibilities and limitations regarding the policy impact of nonprofit voice in government. 6. What is consultation with external groups for? Is it effective? (government practitioner perspectives) Gaining a perspective on what government policy officials believe the purpose and objectives of external policy consultation is and how they assess the effectiveness of such, is of immense practical importance for NGOs. Consultations are used for a variety of purposes in government. In some cases they are genuinely about gathering information to inform and shape policy innovation. In other cases, policy directions have been predetermined and the consultation process is more about discovering and overcoming possible obstacles to the already decided direction of government policy. If the consultation takes place late in the policy cycle it is almost always of the later type. Still, it is clear that consultation with the settlement service sector is seen by government policy workers as an important activity. The information and front-line knowledge of settlement services NGOs is viewed by government as very useful to them. These agencies are strategically positioned to observe the needs and conditions of newcomer populations and to enjoy a connectedness and trust in the community in a way that government is not positioned to realize. Interviews with provincial government policy workers testify to this and the complexity of the relationship. A BC government informant acknowledged the value of NGO front-line knowledge noting that the agencies ‘‘have access to a lot of information that we sitting here in our offices typing away’’ do not possess (BCGOV3). An Ontario informant understood consultation with agencies as being useful but cautioned that the government objectives in conducting such consultations may not be aligned to the agencies’ objectives. They observed that the effectiveness of the process ‘‘depends to a certain extent, if you genuinely have been given the mandate to involve stakeholders and have discussions with them’’, this can be ‘‘very helpful in terms of coming to grips with complicated or sensitive policy issues’’. But ‘‘if it is just a kind of tell us where the land mines are, it is less valuable’’ (OntGov1). A second Ontario informant added that a key shortcoming was that these consultations are sometimes intended to meet ‘‘internal needs’’ of the government and serve only to better inform deputy ministers and ministers rather than to inform policy innovation and solve a problem (OntGov2). The interviews with government policy officials did not provide strong evidence of a robust new public governance approach to seeking outside advice in shaping policy. Still, according to government-based interviews, openings do exist in the system where consultation can have an effect and the information about clients and programs remains valuable to policy officials in helping them shape their own construction policy advice. 7. Is the policy consultation process open or predetermined? (nonprofit practitioners) Interviews with settlement agency informants reveal a set of perspectives on the nature and effectiveness of their engagement with government policy officials. With regard to the nature of the policy consultation process virtually all of the agency-based interviewees were of the view that policy consultations were largely predetermined or that there was only ‘‘a very limited degree of openness’’ (OntNGO8). Their experience of policy engagement with government was often simply frustrating. Despite providing what they viewed as relevant information and perspectives that would benefit policy design, this was too often not heeded. NGO informants across all three provinces shared similar observations. A BC informant understood consultation as less than sincere as key issues respecting policy design were ‘‘pre-determined’’ and the only genuine aspect of consultation was concerned with the remaining ‘‘minutiae’’ (BCNGO4). An Ontario informant saw such processes as tightly controlled where the government was not interested ‘‘genuine consultation and partnership’’ (OntNGO8). And a Saskatchewan agency worker did not see any form of B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 123 engagement with the government but rather the relationship was one of command and control where service providers are ‘‘told what to do and that is what we must do’’ (SKNGO1). There appeared to be some provincial variation regarding the level of consultation with BC displaying a greater propensity to engage the service agencies in policy discussions and Saskatchewan the least so. In terms of the NPG image of open and meaningful consultation, the interviews suggest this is far from the reality in the three Canadian provinces. 8. What is more important the political or bureaucratic part of government in the policy process? (nonprofit practitioners) When the question of whether the public service or political side of government is more important in the policy process, the prevailing view from the service agencies was that the political side of government was a more important actor in the policy process than the public service. This conclusion derives from a keen awareness of the political nature of policy-making and the realization that political factors can trump all else. When probed more deeply, however, beyond single statement responses, many service agency respondents provide a more complex answer. A more strategic understanding emerges where identifying which level within government is to be approached, the public service or the political, becomes dependent upon the issue. There is also a realization that while politicians and political staff tend to have relatively short tenure with a policy portfolio, the public service is a constant, and hence it is important to develop good working relationships with them. Which side was more influential varied by province but some balancing of efforts between public service and the political arm was the prevailing view. Ontario respondents, for example, identified the political side as most influential but also acknowledged the public service contribution. One Ontario interviewee responded: ‘‘Political. But bureaucrats are also important as they have influence and they’re more accessible’’ (OntNGO10). A countering view was expressed by a BC agency worker: ‘‘We have found that our ability to engage at the senior civil servant level can, depending on the circumstance, have more influence than going the political route’’ (BCNGO2). Another confirmed this, stating ‘‘the bureaucratic level it is very important’’ (BCNGO1). However, a shift in focus in BC may be underway as another BC respondent observed: ‘‘NGOs in the general area in settlement services have begun to pay more attention to trying to build links with political staff more than public servants’’ (BCNGO5). The difference in views between BC and Ontario interviewees may be explained by the efforts the Ontario government since the Liberals entered government in 2003 to engage the non-profit sector in a cooperative relationship with the Ontario Government. This was formalized in 2010 with the launch by the Liberal Government of the Partnership Project which is promoting mutual respect and more flexible and sustaining partnering with nonprofit providers (Ontario Trillium Foundation and Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, 2011). 9. Use of coalition advocacy (nonprofit practitioners) Settlement service agencies can amplify their voice by joining together within sector wide umbrella organizations. Province-wide umbrella associations for the sector speak with a collective voice for the sector’s service providing agencies. Each of the three provinces have such sector-wide organizations. These sector-wide organizations are generally more effective in gaining access to government as established lines of communication are already in place. It is also easier for government to deal with a single sector voice when consulting on an issue rather than attempting to coordinate consultation with multiple settlement service agencies. A BC informant captured this succinctly saying: ‘‘So the policy engagement work, if it is to be effective, has to be undertaken in more collaborative ways, using provincial umbrella associations and other bodies to promote and engage and set priorities. The effectiveness of developing common messaging or common policy areas within the sector means that it is easier for government to hear what we have to say’’ (BCNGO2). In addition, an important consideration for individual service agencies is that they are not singularly attached to particular positions. Their role as a service provider is typically financed, in whole or in part, through government funds. Being identified as an advocate of a particular policy alternative may make them vulnerable to government sanction. The umbrella organizations are also better placed in terms of employing dedicated staff and resources to enhance capacity for effective advocacy and research – such a level of advocacy capacity is beyond the reach of most service 124 B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 providing organizations. Organizational scale and capacity are related. As a Saskatchewan based informant observed: ‘‘As you are larger you have more voice . . . I believe that you are more noticed yes, or we are more considered, yes. But is it because people are more sensitive or because government is more sensitive or is it because we are bigger? I would say it is mostly because we are bigger’’ (SKNGO1). Moreover, in terms of the external forms of advocacy, so-called ‘Big Advocacy’, that involves public education campaigns, the use of media, and other public oriented activities, the sector wide organizations, for the reasons expressed above, are simply better placed to engage with government. Of course the ‘Small Advocacy’, involving nonpublic and direct communication with government, is less overtly ‘political’ and is a tactic which both sector wide and service organizations engage in. In Canada umbrella organizations in the settlement field are, however, also reliant on government for much of their funding resources, in some cases up to 70% from the CIC alone (information from correspondence with CIC official December 18, 2013; also see Biles et al., 2011: 231). Such funding dependence can make even umbrella organizations feel constrained in their ability to criticize state funders. One point of tension identified in the interviews, was the erosion of trust between service agencies as a consequence of competitive contracting for government funds. ‘‘There’s also the fear of . . . the competition, of we are all fighting for the same money, so you are trying to share a common voice, but then we are trying to steal your funding at the same time’’ (OntNGO10). The tension arises out of the challenge of coming up with a common voice when at the same time settlement agencies are in competition with one another for the same government funding. The short-term project based funding model used in settlement services and elsewhere by government compels organizations to compete with one another for limited funds. As these funds have been cut back further as a consequence of austerity, the competition has become fiercer. This makes it difficult for agencies to cooperate on other fronts. 10. Role of research (nonprofit practitioners) The place of research in policy advocacy was given less emphasis by service agency personnel interviewed here. In contrast, they identified networking to strengthen their influence on policymaking as their most important activity (Evans & Wellstead, 2013, 78). Service provider agencies very often simply lack the capacity to undertake their own research. As one interviewee stated, it was a rather simple reality service agencies in the sector confront: ‘‘the reality being that we have minimal [research] capacity’’ (BCNGO5). This is particularly true for smaller NGOs in the sector, hence their reliance on umbrella organizations to take on such roles. However, the interviews with agency respondents clearly expressed that research was still viewed as valuable, even if it was produced outside of the sector: ‘‘it is difficult for us to come up with research from our organization because we don’t have a research budget . . . so we depend on research that is done by the academics’’ (SKNGO2, 5). One interviewee stressed the importance for the sector to develop an ‘‘evidence based advocacy’’ approach in exercising their policy voice role: ‘‘it’s incumbent on civil society to not fall into the trap of just sort of using opinion and rhetoric, that it is important to have . . . evidence based advocacy’’ (OntNGO8). There was broad recognition of the value that government places on interventions on policy issues that are informed by strong research. It was equally clear that many agencies recognized and lamented their lack of capacity to be more effective in this regard: ‘‘We would wish to have more money for research that we could engage with’’ (BCNGO3). It is significant that it is only the Quebec Government that provides direct funding to NGOs to do research and advocacy so that they can ‘‘carry out social action for purposes of change’’ (OCASI & CISSA, 2014: 15). Other levels of government have been called upon to adopt funding reforms which would support the enhancement of the sector’s research and voice capacities to more effectively engage with government (Burstein, 2010: 2–3). An interesting and important development within the nonprofit sector regarding the research dimension is how many nonprofit organizations have developed links to university research and researchers. The vast majority of the interviewed nonprofit informants indicated that their organizations made active use of university research work that helped inform their advocacy with government. As one informant stated: ‘‘We’re able to access that research [academic collaboration with Metropolis researchers looking at resettled refugees] to help us in the formulation or input of policy development related work’’ (BCNGO2). Moreover, a good number of these organizations have actually joined with academic researchers to conduct their own studies. The work of Metropolis Canada and its regionally based centers of excellence on immigration and settlement was especially singled out as an important source of relevant research and a focal point for nonprofit– academic research partnerships. The Metropolis network composed of immigration scholars and government policy B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 125 and NGO settlement practitioners has been important for deepening the connections between the sectors (Shields & Evans, 2012). The value of university research to the sector is significant. The view of one Saskatchewan respondent is equally representative of views held across provinces: ‘‘If there is a possibility to connect with the university so that we can give more credibility to the research we will do that’’ (SASKNGO3). The benefits to service agencies in the sector are multi-fold. First, given the limited independent research capacity, the ability to make use of existing research and to even partner with academics for targeted studies works to enable service agencies to bring research into their voice role and augmenting their limited capacity. Second, by connecting to university research agencies are acknowledging that their interventions with government are enhanced by adding a stronger research dimension. And finally, by linking with university research, agencies are able to better position themselves in an effort to enhance the validity and effectiveness of their voice in government. In terms of validity of voice this is enhanced because the university connection counter balances, at least to some degree, the idea often held in government that nonprofit views are not well informed by evidence and are value charged and self-interested. Consequently, the interest on the part of agencies to connect with university researchers has become increasingly important. 11. Concluding observations Interviewed public servants and NGO personal report that consulting with non-government agencies, like the NGOs themselves, play a rather constrained role in the formulation of public policy in immigrant settlement services. The experience of settlement services NGOs suggests that policy consultation with government results in only very limited possibilities to influence policy. In the NGO view, most decisions have already been made prior to their becoming engaged in the process. Nonetheless, all sides still see value in NGO-government consultation as it keeps lines of communication open, government policy officials receive important information on newcomer communities and their settlement and integration, and NGOs can have important impacts in shaping program design and delivery at the operational level. NGOs recognize that the policy process is inherently political in nature. In fact it is this political character which makes the exercise of NGO voice in the public arena highly problematic. Since settlement sector NGOs are dependent on government funding for program delivery NGOs are very hesitant to bite the hand that funds them. The restructuring of government financial support for settlement agencies into a competitive contract funding model guided by NPM axioms has stripped away much NGO capacity to make independent decisions with respect to spending. Nonprofit bodies too often come to be seen as ‘special interest’ organizations and government consultations with the NGO sector are often hollowed out as a consequence. The cold hand of advocacy chill remains very evident among settlement sector organizations. While developments, such as the weakening of government policy capacity and the hesitant and limited take up of NPG ideas in government policy circles, has sometimes made outreach to and consultation with NGOs somewhat more desirable, the structures of neoliberal governance models remain embedded in Canadian provincial government and consequently NGO voice remains muffled. There is, however, a strong desire among nonprofit immigrant settlement organizations to amplify this voice in the service of the communities they serve. They have worked to do this by greater use of coalition advocacy through sector wide umbrella organizations and partnering with academics to bring more of an evidence-based approach to amplify their voice. These measures have been limited in their effectiveness, however, because of the enduring legacy of neoliberal governance. Service provider agencies, nonetheless, continue to value the importance of their voice role. Much of this voice is, however, expressed through the use of ‘small advocacy’ activities over more public and critical ‘big advocacy’ approaches. Nonprofit organizations have attempted to amplify their voice by adopting collective voice strategies such as the utilization of umbrella organizations for advocacy. They are also seeking to augment their research capacity by partnering with university researchers. Both government policy workers and their agency-based counterparts recognize the value of research for evidenceinformed policy advice. Settlement sector organizations remain very interested in and have made investments, even with their limited resources, in research in an effort to enhance their capacity to engage in more strategic policy interventions with government. As noted in the interviews. NGOs make use of research including qualitative evidence in their policy interventions. The use of more evidence-based advocacy interventions is also helpful in mitigating the claim that they are value charged ‘special interest’ policy interventions. 126 B. Evans, J. Shields / Policy and Society 33 (2014) 117–127 The NGO settlement sector has a policy voice which it is attempting to amplify. This effort, however, is restrained by a number of factors. This includes the enduring legacy if NPM, an austerity agenda which threatens NGO government financing, the considerable level of restructuring of the settlement service delivery, and the rapid and significant changes to immigration policy at the Federal level in Ottawa that has been bereft of consultations with the public or government and NGO stakeholders (Alboim and Cohl, 2012; Aliweiwi and Laforest, 2009). Some opportunities exist to increase the volume and effectiveness of NGO voice in policy in immigrant settlement. There is increasing dialogue within some policy and government circles regarding the need to engage more widely and in more meaningful ways with actors in policymaking, with sub-national levels of government often leading the way. Early evidence of this can be found in forums such as the National Settlement Council and after a 10 year absence the ‘‘Vision 2020 National Settlement Conference’’ (2013, http://vision.systemsinteractive.ca/) a national conference involving multilevel stakeholders with the purpose of discussion possible future pathways to settlement programming in the context of immigration reform. The annual National Metropolis Conference is also a forum where government policy officials and NGOs are able to connect on safe neutral ground to build connections and share ideas (Shields & Evans, 2012). It is also important to note that the grounded knowledge that nonprofit organizations hold about immigrant newcomers and their settlement and integration in Canada and in local settings means that nonprofit settlement sector organizations will remain important to the policy process. 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Policy Matters, No. 26 Toronto: CERIS, June. Mulé (2011) Vol. 2, No 1 Spring / Printemps 2011 5 – 23 Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research Revue canadienne de recherche sur les OSBL et l’économie sociale Advocacy Limitations on Gender and Sexually Diverse Activist Organizations in Canada’s Voluntary Sector Nick J. Mulé York University ABSTRACT Registered charities are restricted when engaging in advocacy, whereas Canadian nonprofits face a far more difficult time when fundraising. The impact of such limitations on Canadian gender and sexually diverse1 activist organizations is one example of the implications on Canada’s democratization process. Despite the efforts of the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI), and updated political activity policies, Canada lags behind both the U.K. and U.S. in recognizing and legitimizing advocacy as an important contribution to its democratic process. An organized challenge of the system at the political and legal level is called for to address this issue. RÉSUMÉ Les organismes de bienfaisance enregistrés font face à des contraintes lorsqu’ils défendent une cause, tandis que les organismes sans but lucratif rencontrent de nombreuses difficultés pour amasser des fonds. L’impact de ces contraintes sur les organisations militantes de genre et de sexualité diversifiés n’est qu’un exemple de répercussion sur le procédé de démocratisation du Canada. Malgré les efforts déployés par l’Initiative sur le secteur bénévole et communautaire (ISBC) et malgré la mise à jour de politiques sur l’activité politique, le gouvernement du Canada a du retard par rapport à ceux du RoyaumeUni et des États-Unis en matière de reconnaissance et de légitimation de la défense de causes en tant que contribution importante à son processus démocratique. Pour aborder cette question, nous sommes amenés à remettre en question le système de façon méthodique sur les plans politique et juridique. Keywords / Mots clés Activism; Advocacy; Gender and sexually diverse populations; Voluntary sector Militantisme; Défense d’une cause; Populations de genre et de sexualité; Secteur bénévole 5 Mulé (2011) INTRODUCTION This article looks at how Canada regulates the voluntary sector with regard to charitable purpose and political activities in determining charitable status and the ability to advocate for social change. Viewing advocacy as an integral aspect of the concept of charity, I explore how such a premise is aggravated by the doctrine of political purposes. The Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI) in which the Canadian government engaged in joint talks with the voluntary sector is referenced, and updated political activity policies by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are examined and analyzed. The population focus is specific to Canadian gender and sexually diverse activist organizations, yet the findings have implications across the voluntary sector. Through interviews and content analysis, this paper exposes the limitations placed on Canada’s voluntary sector regarding advocacy due to restrictive regulations (Brooks, 2001; Hall et al., 2005; Pross & Webb, 2003; Scott, 2003; Webb, 2000) and how gender and sexually diverse advocacy groups are disadvantaged regardless of voluntary sector status. Organized efforts to advocate and lobby for social change in Canadian society on the part of minority and disenfranchised groups in the voluntary sector are limited by regulation (Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, 2003a). The legal status of voluntary organizations (e.g., charitable, or nonprofit incorporated) constrains the extent to which they may advocate or lobby for change.2 Although it has been argued that charitable regulations have expanded to include clarification on permitted political activities (Elson, 2007/2008), I contend that these changes represent incremental improvements at best, while limitations persist. Underscoring such limitations is what is termed in the legal literature as the “Doctrine of Political Purposes.” This doctrine draws a fine line between political and charitable purposes, deeming the latter ineligible for charitable status if its objects are heavily based upon the former (Parachin, 2008). A critical deconstruction of a series of historical judgments on legal cases of this matter have been critiqued for falling short of legal justification (Brooks, 1983; Carter & Crawshaw, 1929; Gladstone, 1982; Michell, 1995; Parachin, 2008; Webb, 2000; Wright, 1937), particularly with regard to charities’ advocacy work in furthering public benefit (Cotterrell, 1975; Dunn, 2008; Fridman, 1953; Ontario Law Reform Commission, 1996; Parachin, 2008; Sheridan, 1973). Ultimately, what I bring into question are the limitations placed on charities, and by extension nonprofits, in the voluntary sector. Regulatory constraints concerning political speech and expression based on charitable works limit participation in the political process of democracy (Dunn, 1996). So, why are charitable activities delineated from political purposes such as reforming the law (Dunn, 2008)? This paper is predicated on the role of charity as involved in community engagement and the creation of a civic voice that is permitted to enter the political engagement process on a level playing field, both within the voluntary sector and between sectors (e.g., private sector) as part of a healthy democracy. Such a premise questions why civil society–based organizations that wish to advocate within a social justice mandate are not permitted to do so within the context of registered charity status and its associated benefits. NONPROFIT ADVOCACY Two role dichotomies have been identified within the voluntary sector: an increased role in service delivery, much of it redirected from the public sector; and the role of organizations that challenge the system (government) through social change and associated funding concerns (Lindsay, 2001; O’Connell, 1996). Yet, because there is a voluntary sector dependency on private sector, and particularly public sector, funding of core activities and projects, the level of advocacy activities is limited. This is further exacerbated 6 Mulé (2011) for state “advocacy structures” (i.e., arm’s-length governmental bodies) due to a conflict between program effectiveness and repeated program mandate changes by government funders (Malloy, 1999). Even when there is a delineated difference between the voluntary sector group and the state, partnerships that form between the two create an environment in which advocacy activities become muted. This is due to voluntary sector “community” partners, who are awarded service provision contracts that make them accountable to both service recipients and the state (Basok & Ilcan, 2003; Walzer, 1995). Voluntary organizations enter contractual agreements that impose restrictive governance (Phillips & Levasseur, 2004), in essence institutionalizing the relationship with negative implications on advocacy and autonomy (Laforest & Phillips, 2001). The subsequent impact is one in which actors within the voluntary sector increasingly become overly responsible service providers at the expense of being advocates for social justice (Ilcan & Basok, 2004; Laforest & Orsini, 2005). Some such actors form collective identities representing agreed-upon interests, creating political agencies that counter dominant groups and political discourse (Jenson, 1993, 1995; Kymlicka, 1996). Such collective voices demand a form of citizenship that includes not only benefits but also a right of representation both to and by the state (Jenson & Phillips, 1996). The gender and sexually diverse populations have formulated such groups in Canada, with many having attained charitable status. Historically, Canadian lesbian and gay activists have had to carefully weigh their strategies between philosophical leanings and pragmatic achievements (Adam, 1995; Rayside, 1998; Ross, 1995; Warner, 2002). Regardless of which strategies are chosen, the concept of explicit representation (Jenson, 1995) is an important one to the gender and sexually diverse movement (Mulé, 2006; Smith, 2005a), reflected in the demand for infused recognition in policy (Mulé, 2005). Distinct from the legal justice of human rights protections for lesbians, gays, and bisexuals—yet still absent for transsexuals, transgenders, and intersex3—there is much to focus on with regard to social justice for all these populations (Kinsman, 1987, 2006; Mulé, 2006; Smith, 1999; Warner, 2002). The legalization of same-sex marriage and the right to adopt can create a false impression of “equality,” particularly when the gender and sexually diverse face and experience numerous social justice issues. These social justice issues include bullying and bashings, stigmatization and low self-esteem, and employment barriers; STIs such as HIV/AIDS; and broad health concerns such as depression, substance use, addictions, and risk of suicide. Intersectional concerns may be age-based, involving children, youth, adults, and seniors who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT); ethno-racial cultural conflicts; (dis)ability challenges; and religious-based crises. The current neoliberal environment discourages local gender and sexually diverse organizations from engaging in advocacy activities, creating a focus on service provision (Carroll & Ratner, 2001; Smith 2005a, 2005b). The gender and sexually diverse movement at the federal level has taken a legal approach, reinforcing individualism and class politics in line with neoliberalism (Smith, 2005b). Thus, despite legal recognition for some,4 the specified and particularized needs of the gender and sexually diverse communities from a social justice perspective continue, and as such full citizenship in civil society remains elusive (Sears, 2005). Social justice work by NGOs is often hampered by capacity concerns (Laforest & Orsini, 2005) of which gender and sexually diverse social justice groups are not exempt, operating in under-resourced environments in terms of funding, personnel, volunteers, and time. This can have a negative impact on their capacity to address policy concerns in a timely and appropriate fashion. This neoliberal environment, coupled with a history of oppression and disenfranchisement (Adam, 1995; 7 Mulé (2011) Smith, 1999; Warner, 2002), has resulted in a systemic lack of recognition in policy (Mulé, 2005, 2007), reinforcing the marginalization of gender and sexually diverse populations. Critical social work theories (Fook, 1993; Moreau, 1979, 1990; Moreau & Leonard, 1989; Mullaly, 2007) recognize the dialectical relationship between the state and its structures with individuals and their communities in that both benefits and oppression can be experienced (Allan, 2003; Pease & Fook, 1999). On the one hand there is the attainment of recognition (via charitable and/or nonprofit incorporated status) to address a social issue via service delivery. On the other hand there is the frustration of not being able to address the “causes of the causes” due to limited advocacy opportunities. Specific to gender and sexually diverse populations, queer liberation theory (Altman, 1971; Bronski, 1998; Vaid, 1995; Warner, 1999; Warner, 2002) speaks to agency utilized by individuals and organized social movements that recognizes, respects, and dignifies their difference as a valid contribution to the diversity of society, contributing to a project of emancipation as undertaken by progressive members of the LGBT communities. This liberation strategy is distinct from the norm within the membership of the LGBT communities who are inclined to work within structured systems toward neoliberalized notions of acceptance and respectability (Duggan, 2003; Richardson, 2005) and are thus far less inclined to question such systemic structures and their implications on cultural diversity (Mulé, 2006, 2008). A fused critical queer liberation and critical theory lens identifies limitations, questions the status quo, and seeks systemic change through emancipation. Premised on such a lens, what is the impact of existing CRA policies on advocacy/political activities on charities, and by extension, nonprofit civil society organizations such as those in gender and sexually diverse communities? METHODOLOGY Data gathered for content analysis in this study targeted existing policies, standards, and guidelines reviewed from a structural systemic perspective inclusive of current regulations on the Canadian voluntary sector particular to advocacy, political activities, and recognition of diversity in Canada between April 2001 and May 2010. The Internet served as a major source in the gathering of these data. This critical discourse analysis focuses on interviews conducted with leading Canadian gender and sexually diverse social justice organizations and how they are implicated by the regulation of Canadian charities.5 “ADVOCACY” AND THE CONCEPT OF CHARITY At the core of the relationship between charity and social justice is the legitimacy of advocacy activities. The extent of advocacy activity by charities has been historically and legally restricted based on the doctrine of political purposes. What is argued in this paper is that if charities are to effectively address their mandates they must take on the “causes of the causes” that frustrate their ultimate purpose, and this requires the ability to advocate for social reforms. By placing advocacy restrictions on charities, their work is often reduced to service provision, and the capacity to affect the social changes required to adequately address the very issues the charity has been created to address is lost. Thus, I will argue that restricting nonpartisan advocacy is antithetical to a charity’s capacity to fully carry out its good works. From a legal perspective, the doctrine of political purposes has enormous influence on this issue, establishing the principle that advocacy activities by charities are incongruous. Doctrine arguments are based on tradition and legal authority, the incapacity of the judiciary to rule on public benefit as derived from political purposes (Drassinower, 2001), and the ascription of differentiation between charity and politics (Parachin, 2008). Such arguments conceptualize charities as needing, for the most part, to 8 Mulé (2011) separate themselves from political matters. Political matters are often controversial, as though charities and their good works are incompatible with controversy (Harvie, 2002; Sacks, 1960). The very essence of issues experienced by the gender and sexually diverse communities has been seen by many as political and controversial, yet these communities are not alone in the voluntary sector as being deemed as such. What is posited here is a concept of charity that permits nonpartisan political activity involving advocacy that is in keeping with a charity’s purposes. This argument is premised on the principle that, based on the importance and relevance of their work, charities have a valuable voice to contribute to society through the democratic process. Placing advocacy restrictions on such charities, regardless of their mission or where they are positioned on the political spectrum, limits their freedom of speech and expression, and curtails their ability within the democratic process to reform law (Dunn, 1996, 2008) or engage in influencing social change. CRA POLICIES In 2003, the CCRA implemented a new policy statement, Political Activities, that defines advocacy as, “demonstrated support for a cause or particular point of view. Advocacy is not necessarily a political activity, but it sometimes can be” (CCRA, 2003a, p. 15). Political purposes in this policy is based on the legal definitions, “to support a political party or candidate for public office; or to seek to retain, oppose, or change the law or policy or decisions of any level of government in Canada or a foreign country” (CCRA, 2003a, p. 16). The policy extends to political activities, giving charities more leeway in conducting public awareness programs. This includes explicit communications, calls for political action, and intentions of activity toward retaining, opposing, or changing a law, policy, or decision at any level of the Canadian government or a foreign country (CCRA, 2003a). Also, this policy implemented a sliding scale of expenditures for political activities ranging from 10% to 20%, based upon revenue levels of charitable organizations. Charities with revenues in excess of $200,000 are capped at 10% and otherwise vary with income down to the lowest category (less than $25,000) at 20% (CCRA, 2003a). This change contrasts with the previous across-the-board 10% expenditure limit. The CCRA subsequently issued a policy statement Registering Charities that Promote Racial Equality (CCRA, 2003b) that essentially broadens the definition of charitable purposes to include organizations that promote or educate about racial equality, work to eliminate racial discrimination, and foster positive race relations in Canada. Thus, the promotion of racial equality is now recognized by the CRA as analogous to mental and moral improvement, which falls under the fourth charitable purpose of “other purposes beneficial to the community.” Organizations could also qualify under the purpose of “advancement of education.” The rationale provided in the policy for this expansion cites both U.K. and U.S. policies, but selectively zeroes in on race relations issues, ignoring the broader anti-discrimination policies that exist in both countries. More recently, the CRA issued another guidance document, Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration (2010), in which upholding human rights is considered charitable under all four heads (see above) and can be considered a charitable purpose in its own right under the fourth head, “other purposes beneficial to the community that are considered charitable at law.” At the outset, this guidance appears to be more comprehensive than the more specified focus of “promoting racial equality,” yet it too has its limitations. Three gender and sexually diverse organizations in Canada, each operating with different nonprofit models, offer insights into how they function under voluntary sector regulations. Their respective mandates and means of pursuing social justice for the gender and sexually diverse dictated which model 9 Mulé (2011) each settled for in order to meet their purposes. Egale Canada is a national multi-issue LGBT rights nonprofit organization, which set up a charitable arm to allow it to pursue its advocacy work under the former and public education work under the latter in order to reap the benefits of the charity system. This model notwithstanding, the restrictions on advocacy are no less felt: I mean it’s—obviously it’s a headache. And it’s an administrative headache, in terms of having to run parallel organizations when you have limited resources. So, there are huge issues with respect to it. And the tax receipts, the filing, the administrative stuff is a nightmare … It restricts what we can do as an organization … Because when you want to raise money for a court case, people don’t get a tax receipt, and a lot of people donate because of tax receipts … It takes us away from our advocacy work, because we constantly have to figure out where we’re going to get our next dollar in order to advance LGBT rights … So, I think it’s another way of tying our hands, with respect to advocating for LGBT rights in Canada … we’re certainly not given any encouragement or help from government in advancing human rights. (Egale Canada Representative, September 9, 2010) The Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition (CRHC), also a national LGBT rights organization with a focus on the broad health and well-being issues of these populations, sought and received registered charity status. From its process in attaining such status to its ability to carry out its purposes, the role of advocacy has been impacted: [O]ne of the problems that we ran into initially was in our application for charitable status with Revenue Canada. We had to end up changing some of our purposes to remove terms like “advocacy,” so we had to change that to “educate” in order to get our charitable tax status … Certainly it affected the language and in some ways it seemed to me to be a little petty to change the word “advocate” to “educate,” to basically say the same thing, just a change of word … the problem we had around our mandates and mission statements with Revenue Canada certainly delayed us getting charitable tax status so that was problematic … It certainly causes us to be careful about the advocacy work we do I mean, certainly, when we’re dealing with government, and I think that we’ve tried to do a bit of advocacy with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada to again get them to address the health issues. And there are Revenue Canada’s rules that one has to be careful around the amount of lobbying that they do, certainly political lobbying or what they consider to be political lobbying … I think at times that they’re problematic. We work with our community to solve our own issues; but governments at all levels also have the responsibility to address our populations’ issues, so I think at times the [political activity] rules have the capability of hamstringing organizations. (Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition Representative, May 22, 2009) The provincially based Queer Ontario (successor to the now dissolved Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario [CLGRO]) is a multi-issue progressive, radical nonprofit group that advocates for LGBTQ Ontarians’ rights. Strong adherence to their mandate for advocacy and political activities have caused CLGRO/Queer Ontario to question how the voluntary sector is structured and critique the inherent limitations placed on social justice groups: 10 Mulé (2011) You see this is how groups such as our predecessor CLGRO and our current entity Queer Ontario came to the decision to be nonprofit organizations and not formally seek charitable status. These organizations both had “advocacy” right in their respective mission statements. Both were and are highly principled organizations that are strongly committed to their goals and values. We always had a strong sense then, when we were CLGRO, and even now as Queer Ontario, that we will not compromise on advocating for the rights of LGBT people from a progressive queer perspective. Thus, we were not prepared to reshape ourselves to fit governmental regulations at the expense of our work. Now, this is not to say the consideration of becoming a charity wasn’t taken up, because it was within CLGRO but ultimately not pursued because it was apparent our mission statement would raise red flags with CRA. It was at this point that CLGRO started raising questions about the system. Why is advocacy, or does advocacy raise alarm bells for the government? Why would fighting for the rights of LGBT people in Ontario not be seen as charitable? Is this not a human rights issue? Why are human rights issues not a concern? (Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario/Queer Ontario Representative, October 3, 2010) As is further discussed in the next section, the intricacies and nuances of Canada’s charity policies maintain a conservative ideology that does not necessarily embrace change. It can at minimum contain, if not outright constrain, the progressive dynamic voices of its voluntary sector, regardless of whether those voices are coming from the conservative or liberal ends of the political spectrum, as all are restricted by the doctrine of political purposes affecting the sector. DISCUSSION Operating from the premise that the voluntary sector (and the varying organizations therein: charities, nonprofits, etc.) has an important role to play in contributing to social justice, critical social work theory calls on actors in civil society to be accountable to those whom they serve (Dominelli, 1997; Fook, 1993; Mullaly, 2002). Such accountability is not reserved for service provision only, but includes addressing systemic and structural issues that can create and perpetuate social injustices for individuals and communities (Carniol, 2010; Adams, Dominelli, Payne, 2009; Mullaly, 1998). This is a deeper level of accountability that goes beyond merely tending to the symptoms of social problems known as “band aid solutions” and getting to the root of issues known as the “causes of the causes” via advocacy for social change. Yet, it is precisely at this juncture that the values of social justice conflict with current CRA policies. Social justice, which values fairness, equality, equity, dignity, and diversity, for example, is not always aligned with the parameters of legal justice. This is not to say the pursuit of social justice (i.e., human rights) is uncontroversial, but rather part of the role of civil society in a democracy is to identify, raise, and educate about such issues and to grapple with them as a charitable purpose that will ultimately benefit society. Canada’s parliamentary democracy neither facilitates nor encourages political activism, particularly when compared to the U.S. republican democracy (Belfall, 1995). The structural apparatus that underpins the voluntary sector, in essence, restricts the extent to which charities may undertake advocacy activities. By extension, the resources of nonprofits are restricted as they cannot issue tax receipts for donations, negatively implicating their ability to fundraise. 11 Mulé (2011) These systemic limitations are of particular relevance to the gender and sexually diverse communities who only attained legal recognition in human rights legislation based on sexual orientation (Adam, 1995; Smith, 1999; Warner, 2002) over the past 35 years in Canada but are still pursuing gender identity rights. Long-fought advocacy achieved these legal victories, but now with most human rights battles having been won on the legal justice front, there are many more challenges on the social justice front. Complicating these challenges is the observation that the gender and sexually diverse communities are non-monolithic. Queer liberationists (e.g., Queer Ontario) are considered the most progressive segment of the gender and sexually diverse communities for their discontent with the status quo, their challenging of heterosexist hegemony, and their demand for recognition and legitimization based on difference. As such, advocating for a liberationist type of social justice within a larger neoliberalized gender and sexually diverse community (Duggan, 2003; Richards, 2005; Smith, 2005b)—Egale Canada, for example—that seeks acceptance, respect, and the opportunity to assimilate (hence working with the system) proves challenging (Mulé, 2006) for queer liberationists. The latter find themselves contesting the very political activity restrictions the CRA outlines by undertaking such social justice advocacy. Although the federal government is slowly broadening its interpretation of the four heads of charity, and particularly of purposes beneficial to the community, the CRA’s means of doing so continues to be conservative and restrictive. The 2003 policy document Registering Charities that Promote Racial Equality (CCRA) was curious in that this commendable guidance was nevertheless limited to the one social location in the absence of so many others in multicultural Canada. What underscores the design and development of this policy is an implicit ideologically driven heterosexist discourse that fails to acknowledge or recognize gender and sexually diverse populations. It would be another seven years before the CRA would issue its document Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration (2010). In both cases the jurisdictions of the U.K. and U.S. are cited as having similar policies and in both cases the CRA was selective in what it chose to highlight. Given that legal precedent establishes that charitable purposes are premised upon the formal policy acknowledgment of an accepted public benefit, and that generalized anti-discrimination work and the promotion of human rights has been accepted as such in the U.K. and U.S., Canada’s initial restricted focus on anti-racism and its more recent and conservatively named Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration (CRA 2010) could better reflect the breadth of Canadian human rights legislation (ILGA, 2000) and its potential for expansion (CCEW, 2002a, 2003b; CCRA 2003a, 2003b; Charity Commission News, 2003; IRS, 2002). Both of these policies place a heavy emphasis on upholding existing law, underscoring the limitations on its Political Activities policy (CCRA, 2003a) that charities operate under. In addition, a review of the permissible purposes and activities of the aforementioned two policies emphasize education/service provision, preaching, research and analysis, and public awareness as acceptable. Although these activities do verge on advocacy, charities cannot explicitly pressure the government to enact or alter legislation. The CCRA’s Promotion of Racial Equality policy document (2003b), with its named sole focus on the elimination of racial discrimination, falls short of, and thus is contradictory to, the broader parameters of Canadian human rights legislation. For example, opposing homophobia and heterosexism would also be conforming to existing laws, yet this is explicitly absent from this policy. The CRA’s Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration (CRA, 2010) expands the terrain to include other minorities such as the sexually diverse (e.g., lesbians, gays, and bisexuals). However, this policy’s implicit stance of providing a public benefit based on existing law excludes minorities who are not legally protected from discrimination. Therefore, minorities based on gender identity, such as transsexuals, transgenders, and 12 Mulé (2011) intersex, would fall outside the purview of this policy given their lack of protection in Canadian human rights legislation. The representative system in Canada, contrary to both the U.S. and U.K., has not adapted to interestfocused groups and their representation in the democratic process (Pross, 1986). Given this, how do voluntary sector regulations ensure that all charitable purposes are respectful of Canadian human rights legislation? It would be beneficial if the CRA adopted what the U.S. and the U.K. currently have. Both countries include definitions in their charitable purposes that broadly address discrimination and promote human rights, domestically and abroad, as a valued contribution to democracy and social development. And although the U.K. and U.S. also have similar limitations on political activities, the iteration of their respective policies is not nearly as constrictive. The CRA’s Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration (2010) focuses on the limits rather than the potential achievements of the policy. In Canada, advocacy legitimacy is based upon tax rules rather than broader principles of democracy, resulting in an unclear concept of advocacy premised on highly restrictive court definitions (Phillips, 2003b). Yet it is noteworthy that the CCRA made an attempt to expand both its definition of permissible political activities and its corresponding expenditure limits (CCRA, 2003a). The former contributes to a clearer understanding of the extent to which charities may engage in advocacy work involving political activities and the latter is an attempt at levelling the internal field of charities with regard to resource expenditures of larger versus smaller charities. Although this policy provides some degree of clarification regarding political activities, its impact is rather limited in the absence of an expanded definition of charitable purposes. A mathematical calculation of the expenditure limits reveals a valiant attempt at addressing the imbalance of influence based on the size of charitable organizations, but one with limited success as larger charities are disproportionally advantaged. The attempts of CRA to further clarify what is and is not permissible for charities to engage in regarding human rights, political activities, and thus advocacy can be described as meagre at best, for such policies continue to be undermined by the persistence of the doctrine of political purposes. A doctrine has been developed through the courts over the past few centuries based on a series of legal test cases on the role of political purposes, often conflated with advocacy, in the work of charities. Attempts at distinguishing charity and politics (i.e., partisan versus nonpartisan politics, political activities, lobbying, advocacy, and influencing the public) via jurisprudence have been found to be inconsistent, with some cases being superficially justified and others historically inaccurate (Parachin, 2008). The rationale for this doctrine includes being a time-honoured practice, the authority of the law as it currently stands, judicial incapacity to rule on public benefit derived from political purposes (Drassinower, 2001), and charity and politics being described as merely “just different” (Parachin, 2008). Although the doctrine allows for a certain amount of political activity, what remains elusive to charities is the indeterminate line at which such activity no longer is permissible. This dilemma is further complicated by the asserted incompatibility of charity and controversy (Harvie, 2002; Sacks, 1960). The inconsistency of the doctrine of political purposes completely negates the reality that for some charities controversy will be at the core of their purposes. This issue also intersects with the concept that promoting a point of view is political while the advancement of religion is charitable and the tension that lies therein (Parachin, 2008) is only mentioned here as this issue is much greater than the purposes of this paper. Advocacy and the LGBT movement in Canada The Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition, Egale Canada, and Queer Ontario are three of a limited number of gender and sexually diverse organizations that take up political advocacy work, and as such they are 13 Mulé (2011) at the forefront of the LGBT movement in Canada. These three gender and sexually diverse organizations each operate under different models within the voluntary sector. The Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition sought and obtained charitable status, but not without having to revise the iteration of its mission and having to closely monitor its advocacy activities as a result. Egale Canada essentially runs as two organizations, one of which is established as a registered charity. This not only doubles the administrative work and limits its focus on advocacy, but also requires it to closely self-monitor the activities that are advocacy based so as not to attract suspicion about its purposes. Queer Ontario quite consciously opted to be a nonprofit organization due to advocacy being an integral part of its mission, and based on its predecessor’s (CLGRO) work on the issue both internally and to a limited extent within the VSI (see earlier CLGRO/QO quote). Yet Queer Ontario operates on a very limited budget due to this decision. In essence, what is revealed here is that regardless of their operational models, all three are experiencing limitations in being able to fully carry out their respective mandates involving advocacy work. The implications for the progress of the gender and sexually diverse movement are concerning. Although the limitations expressed can be extrapolated to other social justice movements within the voluntary sector, for the gender and sexually diverse their general oversight and awkward referencing during the VSI (VSI, 2002a) and resulting CRA policies (CCRA, 2003b; CRA, 2010) demonstrate an ongoing sense of not being fully recognized. Analytically, the themes of power imbalances to cultural repression, from discriminatory privilege to subjective politics and systemic bias, both within the voluntary sector and its regulators are worthy of closer examination in four contexts. First, the limitations inherent in Promotion of Racial Equality (CCRA 2003b), and the way the VSI structured and referenced racial and cultural groups, both excluded numerous other groups protected by Canadian human rights legislation. Second, the non-recognition of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals as a cultural group defined by sexual orientation is culturally repressive and limiting. Third, ignoring legally unprotected gender minorities such as transsexual, transgender, and intersex people sets up a systemic bias based upon privilege (CRA’s 2010 Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration). Lastly, by focusing narrowly on definitions of racism and racial discrimination (CLGRO, 2003) or upholding current human rights laws, these policies undermine the experience of inequality felt by numerous minority groups and individuals with intersectional minority status. In essence, the kind of barriers gender and sexually diverse populations face in general society is mirrored in the voluntary sector’s review and current structure. Ultimately, this can hinder attempts at reducing homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism in Canadian society. To be adequately heard within Canada’s democratic society, gender and sexually diverse communities require the capacity to advocate on a level playing field. This lack of capacity is reflected in the absence of a formal concerted voice coming from gender and sexually diverse communities across Canada. Although Egale Canada had identified the Voluntary Sector Initiative as an issue (Egale Canada, 2003), it did not take any formal steps to address its concerns at the time, partly due to a preoccupation with attaining same-sex marriage rights. CLGRO, because of its limited resources, was only able to monitor the VSI process, make submissions to the CRA’s 2003 proposals on political activity and the elimination of racial discrimination (CLGRO, 2003), and host a community forum. CLGRO has since dissolved and its successor Queer Ontario (2010) lists advocacy and activism within the voluntary sector as one of its numerous concerns: [P]eople are not fully aware of the complexities of the voluntary system and how it works, including people within the LGBT communities.… This speaks to the kind of 14 Mulé (2011) in-depth analytical processes CLGRO would engage in, that many other LGBT groups didn’t. It’s why we became interested in the process of the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI). Even there, had we the resources to contribute more time and attention to it, we would have, but ultimately we only provided feedback on guidelines CRA produced in the midst of the VSI and we also hosted a public forum in our communities on the issue. And as it turns out, even that limited input on our part, turned out to be the only input from an organized LGBT body, as far as we know. (Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario/Queer Ontario Representative, October 2, 2010) Because of how charities are regulated, efforts to change laws and/or government policies and influence public behaviour and community opinion, on the part of all of its actors, is highly controlled and restricted (IMPACS, 2001b; IMPACS & CCP, 2002). This restrictive atmosphere keeps registered charities and the people they serve systemically oppressed. The lack of recognition of gender and sexually diverse populations within broader voluntary sector policy only further silences their voices and limits their impact in affecting social change outside the courts. Even beyond gender and sexually diverse populations, the current Conservative government has created a hostile environment for organizations that engage in advocacy work (Brennan, 2010; Ward, 2010). Implications for the voluntary sector The current political environment is an unfortunate one for the broader voluntary sector as it will require political will at the federal level to address the changes required to better acknowledge the importance of advocacy in the work of the sector. The limiting effects on advocacy work undertaken by the gender and sexually diverse communities can be extrapolated to the voluntary/nonprofit sector at large. Although the Panel on Accountability and Governance in the Voluntary Sector, under chair Ed Broadbent, brought this issue to the government’s attention and CRA policies were subsequently updated to reflect broader policy changes, no federal party has taken up the explicit issue of advocacy and its limitations in the voluntary sector (Panel on Accountability and Governance in the Voluntary Sector, 1999). Legally, charities have been generally conceptualized as separate from advocacy and associated political activities as argued in the doctrine of political purposes (Parachin, 2008). Challenges to these legal constraints are required—with the plural emphasized—as some specific cases have done just that (see Parachin, 2008). Clearly more is required if the broader legal context is going to shift. A major disadvantage to nonprofits without charitable status is their inability to raise funds in the absence of “credibility” that comes with being a charity. What will instigate such changes will be a collective voice of charities and nonprofits within the voluntary sector that are most directly affected. Ideally, a collaborative effort on the part of the major sectors (public, private, and nonprofit) could encourage a concerted change, yet this scenario is highly unlikely given differing interests and losses that would be felt by some in levelling the field. The most affected organizations (recognizing that not all are affected) will need to organize and inform themselves, then strategize on how and where to call for a reconceptualization of charities and nonprofits that see the value and importance of advocacy as an integral and indispensable part of their work for social justice within Canada’s democratic system. CONCLUSION Although several attempts have been made to modernize the voluntary sector in Canada, this study found that the designation of charitable purpose, the lack of definition of “advocacy,” and what is 15 Mulé (2011) considered permissible political activity restricts both registered charities and nonprofits in their participation in policymaking. Contributing to these restrictions is how the registered charities are regulated under the Income Tax Act and an adherence to...
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Running head: THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR IN CANADA

The Voluntary Sector in Canada
Name:
Institution:

1

THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR IN CANADA

2

The Voluntary Sector in Canada
The focus of the paper is to reflect on the voluntary sector in Canada. To be a volunteer
means to willingly participate in voluntary actions without any expectation of monetary benefits
but psychic benefits. Anybody can volunteer from an individual to group and even organizations
and institutes (Smith, 2011). The primary function of volunteering is improving the social life in
a community and society at large.
Importance of volunteer in the society life
Volunteers are essential in improving the way of life of people in the society. First, the
volunteers provide the society with various partially tested social innovations from which the
government, institutions and business can institutionalize based on how promising they are.
Therefore, the volunteers help in promoting social innovation relating to human relations in the
society by acting as prototyping...


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