ATIP to Finance: revoking charitable status to Pregnancy Care Centres Part 1

I recently (finally) received the response to my ATIP to Finance regarding Pregnancy Care Centres. There are a lot of pages, much of which has been redacted.

I will be posting some of the information I received in the upcoming days, including some of the letters people wrote to Minister Chrystia Freeland. 

It seems that when people wrote followup emails to the Minister, they did not receive a reply. These two letters below are both just such follow up letters. I bold some of the important questions that were not answered by Ms Freeland.

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Friday, January 13, 2023 2:22 PM Chrystia Freeland P. Dowdall

Re: 009343 - your correspondence of October 26, 2022

Dear Ms. DaSilva,

Thank you for your thorough response. I ask that these thoughts also be taken into account:

since the Liberal government is committed to women's reproductive health and women's rights to be accurately informed about "options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy since in this regard, pregnancy care centers are negatively targeted in the Liberals platform, 'Forward For Everyone' and yet Pregnancy Care Canada has possibly one of the most comprehensive brochures to provide clients with information regarding options in a crisis pregnancy; since the government believes it is it's right to determine which women's health providers receive my tax dollars (such as abortion providers), and which may not receive my donations, (or I cannot claim these donations on my taxes), seriously contradicting your statement that the government "does so while respecting Canadians' right to freedom of expression and freedom of conscience and religion under the Charter"; then I ask to what high degree does the government hold accountable abortion providers with regards to breadth and accuracy of information provided to women about "options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy"? Would any abortion provider have a brochure to offer women similar to that provided by Pregnancy Care Canada? Would the government require such information be provided to women seeking abortions? Why or why not?

I realize that health care largely comes under the province's purvey, but as the federal government is policing pregnancy care centers, then surely they will just as carefully scrutinize abortion providers, to be sure that these facilities are providing thorough and accurate advice.

Is this the intention of the Liberal government? Why or why not? It is not strictly a health question, but also is a finance issue, in the same way that tax donations are a finance issue. I most certainly agree with the Liberal government that those who provide for women's reproductive choices should be providing thorough, and accurate information.

Sincerely,

Sent from my iPad

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From:

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 4:14 PM Chrystia Freeland

008738 (xref: 008446) - Office of the Prime Minister / Cabinet du Premier ministre

Thank you for your reply to my recent letter.

There is one concern I have with regards to your reply. You indicate that "All registered charities are required to ensure that the information that they provide is accurate and evidence-based, and are prohibited from disseminating information that is false or misleading. These requirements apply equally to registered charities that provide reproductive health services to Canadians."

What proof does the Federal Government have that Pregnancy Centres provide false or misleading information? I am not aware of any court case or any documented proof that Pregnancy Centres mislead or provide false information.

I look forward to receiving your reply. Thank you.