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OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pro-abortion government says it remains committed to stripping pro-life organizations of their charitable tax status, a move which has been blasted by Canada’s top pro-life group.

On December 2, during a regular question and answer session in the House of Commons, pro-abortion New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Leah Gazan asked Liberal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, what the status was regarding “the Liberal Party’s 2021 election platform [promise] to no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations, such as crisis pregnancy centers.”

Freeland replied to Gazan by saying “our government remains committed to no longer provide charity status to anti-abortion organizations that provide dishonest counselling to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of a pregnancy.” 

She also noted that “tax privileges provided to charities” under Canada’s Income Tax Act are “are required to follow a particular set of rules.” 

Gazan then asked what steps the government has taken to “define an anti-abortion organization,” as well as what “stakeholders and interested parties have government representatives met with since September 21, 2021.” 

Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, answered that “as the federal regulator of registered charities, the CRA is responsible for making sure charities comply with the requirements of the Income Tax Act and common law.” 

Lebouthillier noted that the CRA will implement policy once it becomes law, but that “it is not the CRA’s role to develop tax policy.” 

“As such, while the CRA is prepared to administer any new rules that are implemented and to provide relevant guidance to the charitable sector, the CRA is currently unable to respond in the manner requested.” 

Trudeau’s Liberal Party’s 2021 election platform specifically targeted pro-life groups, including organizations that directly help women in crisis pregnancies. 

In a portion of the party’s 86-page platform, they stated, “A re-elected Liberal government will: No longer provide charity status to anti-abortion organizations (for example, Crisis Pregnancy Centres) that provide dishonest counseling to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy.” 

Freeland is being ‘dishonest’ 

Director of communications for Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) – the nation’s largest pro-life group – Pete Baklinski told LifeSiteNews that Freeland is being “dishonest” about pregnancy resource centers. 

“She’s lying outright about pro-life pregnancy resource centers. These centers exist to help struggling women navigate through a crisis pregnancy, from helping them with diapers, baby-clothes, and food to even meeting their emotional, legal, and spiritual needs,” said Baklinski. 

“And, they do a fabulous job at it. Many women experience their lives vastly improved after being helped by one of these centers.” 

Baklinski told LifeSiteNews that the real reason Trudeau and his “Liberal cronies” want to “strangle these roughly 150 centers out of existence by means of cutting off their charitable status is because these centers do not subscribe to abortion ideology.”

When a pregnant woman walks through the door, these centers see two persons in need of help – the woman and her preborn child. And, they exist to serve both of them, championing both of these precious lives,” explained the pro-lifer.

“Mr. Trudeau simply detests organizations that defend mothers along with their preborn babies. He wants to crush them and destroy them. Mr. Trudeau’s push to strip these wonderful centers of their charitable status reveals his utter hatred for pro-life organizations.” 

Outlining the seriousness of this measure, Baklinski also noted that if Trudeau’s plan “goes through, then, according to current Canadian charity law, these charities must disperse all of their assets, including property, or pay a ‘revocation tax’ that is equal to 100% of the value of all their remaining assets, after they have paid all their debts.”

“What this means is that every single one of these pro-life charities will suffer complete financial loss and dissolution. If they want to ‘keep going,’ they would have to start over from scratch as new non-charities that are not for profit. The end result is that with these centers being forced to close their doors, vulnerable women will be left to face their crisis pregnancy alone,” he lamented, adding that This could potentially drive more women into making the terrible choice of abortion. And the blood of these babies will partly be on Mr. Trudeau’s hands.” 

Since the 2021 election, CLC has been working non-stop to rally all Canadians to demand that his government not remove charitable status from pregnancy centers. 

CLC’s petition to MPs asking them to save the country’s crisis pregnancy centers has now been signed by over 13,000 Canadians. 

Dec. 12, 2022 update: Baklinski clarified a comment, explaining in more detail the devastation that will happen to pro-life pregnancy resource centers if they are stripped of their charitable status.

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