New members, including two Muslims, appointed to the Canada Revenue Agency Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector

Charities play a key role in our society by providing valuable information and services to Canadians, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable.

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that charities have a regulatory environment that supports the important work they do.

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Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, announced the appointment of nine new members to the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (ACCS).

The following incoming members begin their two-year terms with the committee on May 1, 2022:

Christian Bolduc – President & CEO, BNP Performance, LL.B, ASC, C.Dir., CFRE
Owen Charters – President & CEO, BGC Canada (formerly Boys & Girls Clubs)
Dr. Anver Emon – Canada Research Chair in Islamic Law and History, and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto
Sheherazade Hirji – Former Resident Representative, Aga Khan Development Network, Afghanistan
Jean-Marc Mangin – President & CEO, Philanthropic Foundations Canada
Sarah Midanik – President & CEO, The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF)
Martha Rans – Founder & Legal Director, Pacific Legal Education and Outreach Society (PLEOS)
Tanya Rumble – Director of Development, Ryerson University
Bob Wyatt – Executive Director, Muttart Foundation

The incoming members will join six current ACCS members, whose terms are ongoing. 

Minister Lebouthillier also wishes to recognize and thank the departing committee members, whose terms ended in 2021:

Denise Byrnes – Executive Director, OXFAM-Québec
Terrance Carter – Partner, Carters Professional Corporation
Peter Elson – Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Victoria
Bruce Lawson – President & CEO, The Counselling Foundation of Canada
Susan Manwaring – Partner, Miller Thomson
Peter Robinson – Co-Owner, Hedgerow Farm; and Former CEO, David Suzuki Foundation
Paulette Senior – President & CEO, Canadian Women's Foundation
Paula Speevak – President & CEO, Volunteer Canada

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Quotes

"I am pleased to welcome the new members of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, including two members from the Muslim community. Increased representation is important to ensure that the work of the committee reflects the diverse needs of the charitable sector. I look forward to continued collaboration with the committee as we work together to shape a regulatory environment that enables charities to succeed."

- The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue

Quick Facts

Since 2019, the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (ACCS) has been engaging in meaningful dialogue with the charitable sector to advance emerging issues related to charities. To date, they have published three reports containing a range of recommendations on important and emerging issues facing registered charities.
As part of the selection process for the new members, the CRA held an open call for applications, which closed on May 21, 2021. Over 200 people applied, and the CRA reviewed all applications to ensure that the committee is well represented, inclusive, and diverse.

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On July 22, 2021, the Government of Canada hosted the Summit on Islamophobia. At the summit, the Minister of National Revenue committed to appointing a member of the Muslim community to the ACCS.

The CRA encouraged applications from a broad cross-section of experts, practitioners, leaders from the not-for-profit and private sectors, as well as members of various groups, including women, LGBTQ2+ communities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. Increased representation is important to ensure the work done within the committee reflects the diverse needs of the charitable sector.

The Report of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities was published in May 2017 and contained a number of recommendations, including that the Government of Canada consult with the charitable sector to modernize the rules governing the charitable sector. The ACCS is the Government's response to that recommendation.

The Government provided $3.2 million in new funding to the CRA over the 2018-19 to 2023-24 period to support the Advisory Committee in strengthening the relationship between government and the charitable sector.

Biographies of the two new Muslim Committee members:

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Dr. Anver Emon, Canada Research Chair in Islamic Law and History & Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto

Dr. Anver M. Emon is a professor of law and history, Canada Research Chair in Islamic Law and History, and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto. He was trained as a premodern Islamic legal historian. A prolific author, he has published numerous books and articles on Islamic legal history and its more contemporary manifestations. In recent years, he has turned his attention to the social construction and deployment of the “Islamic” and the “Muslim” in state practices of surveillance, anti-terrorism policy, and national security. Co-author of Under Layered Suspicion, he integrated both areas of research into an analysis of the CRA’s auditing practices of Muslim-led charities in Canada. He is now working on a monograph critically examining the presumptions and frameworks of Canadian and global financial intelligence practices. In his role as director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, he works with various stakeholders across Canada and globally to incubate new research that integrates the lived experiences of racialized and marginalized communities in research design and execution. Follow Dr. Anver Emon on Twitter here

Sheherazade Hirji, Former Resident Representative, Aga Khan Development Network, Afghanistan

Sheherazade Hirji qualified as a lawyer in England and British Columbia. She has worked in the philanthropic sector for over 30 years, most recently as President and CEO of the Canadian Women's Foundation, and previously with Tides Canada (now MakeWay) Foundation and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. She has served as a philanthropy consultant to private and public foundations, corporations, government, and families engaged in philanthropy. She completed executive leadership programs with the Conference Board of Canada and the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. In her voluntary capacity, she has served on the National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, and on the Boards of the Wellesley Institute and the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Between 2012 and 2019, she served as President of the Ismaili Council of Ontario, the first woman in this position. Between 2019 and 2021, she served a Resident Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network for Afghanistan. Sheherazade is a recipient of the North York Women's Shelter's Hope Award, the Canada-Pakistan Business Council’s Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women's Women Who Inspire Award. Follow Sheherazade Hirji on LinkedIn

To read the biographies of all the committee members, click here

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