1.4 Failure to devote resources to charitable activities

As stated in our response of August 12, 2021, the religious festival Eid al-Fitr, or the “Festival of Breaking the Fast,” and Eid al-Adha, or the “Festival of Sacrifice” marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, are the two major holidays celebrated by Muslims around the world. The Eid celebrations are deeply rooted in Prophetic tradition. When asked about the origin of Eid al-Adha, The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said, “It is a tradition that has come down to us from Abraham.” The festivals are national holidays in many countries with large Muslim populations. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. In the western countries where Muslims are a minority community, Muslims may request to have the day off from school or work to celebrate with family and friends. During Eid, Muslims take part in special morning prayers, greet each other with formal embraces and offer each other greetings of “Eid Mubarak,” or “Have a blessed Eid.” They gather with family, friends, or community, exchange gifts and prepare and eat special meals.

The AFL diminishes the practice of Eid to simply morning Eid prayers, which is incorrect, and states at page 71 that, “… the Eid prayer which usually occurs one or twice during the event, lasting from 30 minutes to approximately one hour, would be considered an activity that advances religion.” In accordance with Islamic tradition, celebrations of Eid al-Fitr should last for three days, and Eid al-Adha for four days.

Putting aside that this is a double standard not generally applied by the CRA to Christian organizations for Christmas and Easter, or the religious holy days of other religious organizations that are registered charities, the Charity argues that the Eid Festival is not simply ancillary and incidental but in fact is in its entirety exclusively charitable. The Eid Festivals serve first and foremost a major religious celebration no different than Passover, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Christmas or Easter.

As a correction, the Eid Festivals will hold 2 or 3 prayers to accommodate for attendance. Each prayer takes one hour. Throughout the day the program will include the other daily prayers. Each one will take up to 30 minutes. The prayer alone accounts for 5-6 hours of the maximum 8-hour program.

In addition, at page 73 of the AFL the CRA alleges that 83.8% of costs for Eid in the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years were spent on non-charitable costs, such as parking, entertainment, food, and transportation. However, the CRA’s calculation of the costs is incorrect. The following are some corrections:

• The rental fees for the facility, which is the majority expense, is fixed whether the facility is used for one hour or 24 hours. As such, the rental costs for the hours used to operate the festival and carnival is free.

• The carnival ticket sales cover the contract with the rides company. In fact, in subsequent years to the audit, the carnival was operated directly by the third-party company without any participation by the Charity. Therefore, the carnival had no expense to the Charity.

• The food sales expenses are covered by the sales revenue. In fact, in subsequent years the food sales were outsourced to local food vendors.

The facility rental costs actually account for approximately 60% of the expenses. This is the only expense that relies on community donations. If one assumes the CRA’s approach, the facility rental expense incurred for the 5-6 hours of prayer is completely charitable. The other two material expenses are the carnival rental and the food supplies, which cover themselves (zero balance). Therefore, from an expense perspective, there are no non- charitable cost allocations reliant on the Charity.

With respect to the use of the Charity real property by Centre Culturel Aboubakerseddik (CCA), the Charity has addressed this matter in earlier communications of December 21, 2018 and this alleged non-compliance has been rectified. Further, it is the Charity’s position that the use of the property by CCA followed the ITA and the CRA’s administrative guidance documents, as the Charity had a written agreement with CCA as its intermediary concerning the operation of the property as a mosque in furtherance of MAC’s charitable purposes, and employed Habib Marzougui as a MAC employee to oversee direction and control concerning use of the property.

In this regard, the Charity entered into a written agreement with CCA through a usufruct agreement on February 6, 2009. The Charity asserts that the usufruct agreement allowed the Charity to maintain direction and control over the activities taking place at the CCA, including through the use of an employee, which is addressed later in this submission with respect to Mr. Mohammed Habib Marzougui.

MAC Additional Detailed Response:

Non-charitable use of buildings

At page 74, the AFL alleges, “For purposes of quantifying the resources devoted to non-charitable building expenses, the CRA reviewed the building and maintenance expenses of the properties to determine the portion of the buildings not used in charitable activities, vacant and/or unused portions of properties, and properties used to generate rental income.” This allegation has been responded to in detail above concerning each property and evidenced its conclusion that its facilities do not have non-charitable activities, whether this may be unused space or rental income. As such the calculation in Appendix M is incorrect.

Centre Culturel Aboubakerseddik (CCA)

As previously explained, the Charity purchased the building for the community to be used for charitable purposes of advancing religion and to carry out its own charitable activities. Prior to the purchase, the CCA had for several years operated Aboubaker mosque in the space under a lease agreement with the former owner of the building. The CCA had a history of offering religious services and community activities that were consistent with the Charity’s goals and charitable purposes.

Furthermore, CCA had a positive reputation and credibility with the local community (the beneficiaries) in serving their religious needs. CCA’s ability to raise significant funds to purchase the building is evidence that the CCA had established a presence in the local community. The Charity had many years of ongoing personal relationship and trust with the leadership of CCA that developed from the CCA’s longstanding track record of effectively running the Aboubaker mosque, therefore providing a high degree of reliability to the Charity.

According to the CRA there is no legal requirement to have a written agreement, but this is the most effective mechanism to help the charity meet the own activities test. As such, after purchasing the building, the Charity signed a usufruct agreement, which the Charity submits designated CCA its “intermediary.” The Charity was able to reasonably expect CCA, a non-qualified donee, to use the space for the intended charitable activities based on the CCA’s history of doing so.

In entering this agreement, the Charity endeavoured diligently at all times to comply with the ITA and with each aspect of the CRA’s guidance for registered charities working with intermediaries.

As per the CRA Guidance CG-004 the Charity’s written agreement included the following:

• Exact legal names and physical addresses of all parties

• A detailed description of the activities to be carried on by the intermediary. The Charity required the property to be used as a Mosque and community centre providing religious services that aligned with its charitable purpose.

• The location where the activity will be carried on. The agreement specified CCA would operate in the second and third floor of the building.

• The agreement required that in order for the Charity to plan and monitor, the CCA must annually submit a calendar plan and budget of activities planned in the building.

The Charity also maintained direction and control of its activities conducted on its behalf and the use of its resources, the building, by hiring an employee to oversee the use of the space and report back to the Charity. A MAC member, [REDACTED], was hired to monitor the activities of the CCA to ensure compliance with the agreement. The intermediary had a standard set of activities that were approved by the board of MAC including daily prayers, Friday prayer, Ramadan and Eid prayers as well spiritual services such as funeral prayers, etc. Year after year, this plan remained same and the intermediary did not add to it at any point during the year. As such the plan and budget was consistent and simply confirmed through monitoring by MAC’s employee Mr. [REDACTED]. The Charity maintained regular communication with its intermediary through Mr. [REDACTED], from whom it received regular phone updates. Furthermore, the agreement with CCA allowed the Charity to maintain direction and control and intervene in any decision of the intermediary by including MAC’s right to terminate at any time if the CCA was not compliant.

CCA continued to carry out the Charity’s own activities by providing services to the community that were consistent with the services the Charity provides to communities across the country in its other mosques that included:

• Daily prayers

• Ramadan and Eid prayers

• Religious classes

• Imam spiritual support

As explained above, CCA was required to report annually to ensure the necessary direction and control was in place. The Charity maintained a real, ongoing, and active relationship with the CCA.

The AFL also alleged at page 75 that, “The Organization is, according to its letter of February 20, 2019, purportedly running the mosque as its own activity now. However, this does not appear to be consistent with other publicly available information. This information was updated as of January 1, 2019, several months after CCA purportedly left the premises.” It is not the Charity’s legal obligation to update Quebec’s corporate registrar concerning CCA’s address or other information that would be publicly available. Reliance on these registrars is not factual.

Sports activities

Prior to addressing the allegations in the AFL, the Charity wishes to point out that on July 22, 2021, the Government of Canada announced a grant of approximately $350,000 for the Charity’s “Ballers for Hope” program. In this regard, the use for the program is described as, “The project aims to address systemic barriers to social participation for Muslim youth girls, more specifically in sports by providing them with tools and support to improve their representation.”10 As such, it is confusing that on the one hand the Federal Government is suggesting that these programs are not permitted for the Charity, while on the other hand awarding a significant grant to do exactly these types of activities.

At page 77 the AFL alleges, “Sport activities undertaken by a charity should relate to and support its exclusively charitable purposes and be a reasonable way to achieve them, or the sports activities should be ancillary and incidental to the charity’s otherwise charitable purposes. Sports activities are considered ancillary and incidental when only a very small portion of the organization’s total resources (personnel, funds, and property) are devoted to the sport activities in question.” In this regard, the AFL concludes that it is “unlikely to be considered charitable as they do not appear to be ancillary and incidental to one of the Organization’s charitable purposes; rather, they appear to advance sports as a purpose unto itself.”

This is a double standard that the CRA does not equally apply with other charities. Among charities there are many examples of faith groups that have maintained a connection between religion and sports activities, such as the YMCA of yesterday and sports ministries. Many religious organizations have used sports activities as a means to advance religion, which the AFL acknowledges is permissible.

The Charity argues against the CRA’s view of the organization’s sports activities. Through its programming the Charity attracts youth to the community and brings them into an environment where they learn about their religion and develop their faith identity. The Charity’s understanding of promoting Islam includes comprehensive development of individuals including both physical and athletic.

The CRA has not provided any evidence of resources incurred to demonstrate that sport activities have taken resources beyond a small portion of the overall organization’s total resources. The CRA states, “An organization that addresses specific problems faced by youth at risk through sport (for example, delinquency, addictions, or mental illness) can be considered charitable; however, it is important that these programs relate the sports activities to the purpose it is intended to achieve.” Like almost every religious organization in Canada, the Charity does not provide youth programming to address youth at risk, although its programming may indirectly serve this purpose.

The Muslim Youth Soccer League (MYSL) and MAC United Soccer

The CRA alleges, “During the audit interview, the CRA asked the Organization’s representatives about its relationship with the MYSL. In response, the Organization stated that it offers moral support, the use of its soccer field at one point in time, some storage space, but it is not an activity of the Organization.” This is a correct description of the relationship. When the MYSL founder approached the Charity, through the ICCO management team, the Charity supported the project by announcing the activity to the community and volunteers, as well as providing use of a soccer field, and storage space. In return MAC was recognised as a sponsor of the activity and was rightfully acknowledged for its support, which sponsorship the Charity submits was market value for use of the soccer field and storage space. The Charity did not take over the project financially or legally. While the Charity understands that this would be permitting a non-qualified donee to use its resources, the charity contends that the fair market value of the recognition it received, as compared to other sponsors, was sufficient, and that it was thus in compliance with the ITA. Furthermore, the Charity understood at the time that sports activities would assist its charitable purposes concerning the advancement of religion, as MYSL uses sports as a means of coordinating youth who share a faith the opportunity to grow and learn with one another. Even though the Charity has demonstrated compliance with the ITA, it is open to a constructive dialogue with the CRA in order to become more compliant with the requirements of being a registered charity.

The AFL notes from well outside the Audit Period at page 78 that, “The Organization’s 2004 Executive Council (EC) report “EC Report for NC 2004” lists MYSL as a new soccer league for kids under its “*Projects across Canada”. The Charity entertained the possibility of taking over the organization in 2004, but instead the Charity decided to support the operation as explained above. The program was added into the EC report to indicate that this project was supported by the Charity.

There are several examples of jointly organized events, sponsored events, hosted events, etc., that the Executive Council includes in its report because all of these examples demonstrate that the Charity has contributed public benefit through its charitable purposes. However, the CRA has reviewed the Charity’s books and records as part of the audit, and in particular its financial transactions to confirm that this support was not in the financial or qualitative sense. The MYSL is not included in all subsequent EC reports, and specifically not during the Audit Period. This is evidence that this was not an ongoing relationship and that the project was not operated by the Charity.

At page 78, the AFL also states, “The Organization’s May 2013 Community Connection states “MAC is very proud of [its] MYSL program and its growth and success.” The AFL has inserted the word [its] which was not present in the community connection newsletter. Nevertheless, the Charity does not see an issue with including an announcement about the MYSL program. The Charity plays an important role in recognising successful local organizations and programs to encourage service to the Muslim community. The community connection is not limited to the Charity’s programs only. The Charity is concerned about the CRA embedding the word “its” to misconstrue the post to suggest that the MYSL is the Charity’s program. The CRA highlights that at page 78 that “A 2014 MYSL Flyer titled “2014 Outdoor Season” includes the Organization’s logo and address.” (page 78) and that “The Organization’s Olive Grove School held a Registration Clinic for MYSL in March 2014,” and “As of October 2017, the Organization’s address continues to appear on MYSL signage.”

In this regard, the Charity was a sponsor in 2014 and as such the MYSL included its logo. The Charity supported MYSL through storage space, use of address and a registration location. The Charity did not provide financial sponsorship. In return, MYSL included the Charity’s logo on some of its marketing materials. This was determined to be a fair sponsorship return for the organization. The CRA points out that “A July 2015 email includes Organization’s organizational structure, which explicitly identifies that MYSL falls under MAC’s Toronto Chapter.” This email included an old chart that was forwarded to the recipient. The up-to-date organizational chart was given to the CRA during the audit. Nevertheless, this chart from previous years reflected that MYSL was supported by the Toronto Chapter, as explained above.

The CRA also notes at page 79 of the AFL that, “It is not self-evident how these two soccer programs advance a charitable purpose as neither appear to be specifically geared to youth at risk, relieving poverty, or alleviating conditions associated with disabilities.” Instead of asking the Charity how these sports activities advance religion, the CRA has pre-determined that sports programs do not contribute to this objective. The Charity asserts that MYSL is not a MAC program and therefore should not be considered as part of the discussion about MAC’s charitable activities and resources.

The CRA states at page 79 that, “[t]he CRA has considered the possibility of MAC United Soccer as assisting individuals living in poverty by alleviating financial or other barriers to participation in, and increasing access to, physical activity which could potentially qualify as relief of poverty.” The Charity does not agree with this interpretation by the CRA, which misses the point. The Calgary program, MAC United Soccer, is not organized to promote sport, rather the sport is a means to advancing religion. In the program:

• Participants are introduced to Islamic teachings;

• Rules and operations are structured to comply with Islamic ethics and principles;

• Participant uniforms are designed to comply with Islamic requirements;

• The program includes prayer and spiritual reminders

• Participants are generally from MAC’s congregation and the program is an ancillary activity to MAC’s regular programming

Many of the above distinguishing elements of the soccer program apply to MYSL as well.

As stated above, the resources invested in MYSL are immaterial as it is not a MAC program. As for the MAC United Soccer, the resources invested are incidental and ancillary. If soccer programming was a collateral purpose for the Charity, the CRA would have seen soccer programs in every chapter across the country. With respect to Calgary, the chapter organizes a wide range of charitable activities of which this is only one.

The CRA states that “[t]he CRA has considered the possibility of MAC United Soccer as assisting individuals living in poverty by alleviating financial or other barriers to participation in, and increasing access to, physical activity which could potentially qualify as relief of poverty. These activities could include, for example, providing subsidies for children of low-income families so they can participate in sports activities in their community.” The Charity is concerned that the CRA is not applying the same standard to all programming. MAC’s Eid Festival has a prominent element of assisting individuals living in poverty by alleviating financial or other barriers to participation, including the specific example cited by the CRA of subsidies for children of low-income families. Yet the CRA has not chosen to apply this test to the Eid Festival.

Other sports programs

MAC views its sport programming as part of its advancement of religion. The CRA highlights a number of sport activities in different centres.

• MAC Youth Ottawa’s weekly boys’ sports program

• Toronto/Mississauga’s weekly MAC Youth High School soccer program, 2014

• Toronto/Mississauga’s MAC Youth Friday Night Ball (basketball program)

• CCL (Montréal) Soccer pour jeunes, 2013

• CCL Club Laurentien de Taekwondo & Judo

The CRA has highlighted invested resources in a Taekwondo program at the Charity’s CCL Centre. The Muslim community was looking for a facility and service that provides religious accommodation, especially for females, which allows participants to comply with religious restrictions in teaching methods, instructor’s genders and allowance for prayer. In most, if not all, Taekwondo external programs participants are required to bow to their instructors and peers, which is forbidden in Islam. Furthermore, in addition to accommodations, the program serves as a means to advancing religion with youth and other participation by integrating religious teaching and bringing the youth into the Mosque facility and thus directly meeting the Charity’s charitable purposes.

Ancillary and Incidental

The CRA assesses the resources devoted to sports at a centre level. The Charity argues that the CRA should determine whether sports activities are ancillary and incidental at the charity level. The CRA will find that across the organization, sports activities are a small portion of the organization’s resources (personnel, funds, and property).

The Charity offers extensive programming that was accessible to the CRA through its 2013/2014/2015 reporting, targets, and annual report. The CRA has reviewed the Charity’s social media and it is patently obvious that its programming is comprehensive and that sports activities are exceptions and/or unique to certain chapters or centres.

If sport activities were “more than ancillary and incidental activities” the CRA would see a consistent presence of such programs across the country as well as substantial financial resources in such programs.

Youth activities

At page 83 of the AFL, the CRA alleges that, “[a]lthough the above description states that the social activities during its MAC Youth Socials events are ‘incidental and ancillary’ to its religious content, the Organization has not demonstrated that this is the case. Youth social activities were held frequently and consistently as part of the programming in various projects and for the most part, there does not appear to be any focus on religious programming.”

The CRA highlights social programs and suggests that they do not have any focus on religious programming. The Youth Department is focused on providing opportunities for youth to learn and grow in a safe and stimulating environment. MAC Youth creates spaces for healthy engagements.

The Charity’s strategy for youth development is built on providing accessible personal growth opportunities through:

• Promoting youth engagement initiatives

• Fostering youth leadership by providing a solid foundation for developing capable and responsible youth citizens

• Promoting active living among youth

• Providing youth with opportunities to serve

At the heart of the Charity’s vision informed by its understanding of Islam is the belief which is for change to occur in the world, it must first occur within each individual. This is a fundamental Islamic principle which is mentioned in these words of the Quran: “Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change that which is within themselves.” So, the fundamental tenet of the Charity’s development model is the individual who is self-aware and constantly striving for self- development. Subsequently, at the heart of the Charity’s Islamic understanding of change is character development through education so that there is enough leadership capacity in its community to sustain the community’s growth and resiliency.

In this regard, MAC Youth provides a variety of programming to encourage youth engagement, and by doing so nurturing faith in their hearts. Through consistent education, youth develop a strong Muslim identity, which fully blossoms when they reach adulthood.

Youth engagement is essentially making the youth part and parcel of the fabric of the community in a meaningful way. It is to have them not only be included in programs, but to be leading as well. It is to build up their confidence, self-esteem, and self- motivation. It means to treat them as young adults who are capable of making moral, intellectual, and even spiritual decisions.

There are many barriers to youth engagement. These include but are not limited to:

• Absence of entertainment for youth that is Halal (religiously acceptable)

• Lack of accommodation to the interests of youth

• Lack of space and opportunity for female youth

• Generational and cultural gaps

• Lack of mentors & role models

• Lack of formal guidance

• Youth not knowing how to get involved

• Youth identity crisis

The Charity’s model of spiritual and self-development is the driving priority in all of its programming and is integrated into every activity whether it is fully spiritual or has an apparent social element, including the examples listed by CRA in the AFL. All of these programs include a priority element of spiritual learning such as study circle, spiritual reflections, or religious mentorship. These activities serve as a means to engage youth, and not the end in itself. They allow the Charity to overcome some of the barriers to youth engagement listed above by creating an environment that is connected to the interests of youth and allowing them to enjoy time with peers while benefiting from religious learning and spiritual growth.

Youth vary in interest and passions. For some it may be recreations, arts, social justice causes, or learning the Quran. The commonality is that if programs offered to youth successfully combine their motivations and their faith, they will be happily engaged. Other factors that draw youth are the presence of positive influence from others, such as role models and mentors.

The CRA alleges that “[g]iven the number of social activities and square footage of its facilities used for these activities, as well as resources devoted to these activities, it appears social activities undertaken by the Organization may not be ancillary and incidental to its charitable purposes.” In 2015, 16% of MAC’s overall programming was focused on youth and served 3,186 youth. Through 950 sessions encompassing 3,357 program hours and 11,800 volunteer hours, the Charity served over 3,000 youths and created 29,300 participation opportunities. The Charity provided growth opportunities for youth through delivering many quality programs, such as MAC Youth Groups (SYG and BYG) – organized across 10 chapters. These programs break down to 26% educational, 6% community engagement, 47% spiritual, and 21% recreational and social. As such, while the Charity believes social activities are an important channel to engage youth, the percentage of such activities are ancillary and incidental.

The CRA states at page 83 of the AFL that, “Youth social activities were held frequently and consistently as part of the programming in various projects and for the most part, there does not appear to be any focus on religious programming.” This is a false statement. Other than highlighting some examples, the CRA has not demonstrated any evidence to support its argument or any quantitative analysis or any comment on the Charity’s overall youth programming in order to present an accurate assessment of ancillary and incidental and the degree of resources dedicated to programs.

Furthermore, as indicated in the attached Schedule “6”, in the Charity’s Annual Reports during the audit period under the objective of promoting the Charity’s understanding and thought (advancing religion) the 2013-2015 reports indicate:

• Youth Groups (SYG/BYG) existed in 9 chapters

• 274 youth attended 7 high school camps

• Youth retreats were organized for university and college students

• 2 leadership training programs were organized

• The annual Tarbiyah & Ilm Camp (self-development camp) was organized

• The Central Annual Meeting was held

• MAC Learn, a youth training program, was held with 80 attendees

• A Winter Revival Retreat was organized as well as a youth conference

All of these programs are religious programming. All of the youth group activities highlighted by the CRA have a primary religious component, as explained above, but also drive participants into additional focused religious, training and mentorship programs.

Youth Centres Within its Premises

The CRA further alleges at page 83 that, “[s]ome of the activities undertaken by the Organization for youth, such as its youth centres and fitness clubs, lacked this aspect of supervision, guidance and monitoring to provide a charitable benefit to youth.” The CRA further alleges at the same page that, “because of the lack of details provided during the audit interviews, and limited documentation related to its youth programs, the CRA is unable to determine whether all of the activities undertaken by its various youth departments were in support of its charitable purposes.”

Many youths come to MAC centres for daily prayers, Friday prayers and other religious programming. For these youth who are regular congregants, MAC centres have created spaces to encourage youth to spend more time in the centre in a positive and healthy space. Such spaces may be branded for youth such as “youth cave” or “youth room,” as well as offer some activities that appeal to youth, but the spaces are not restricted to youth.

For many youths growing up in Canada, the most important thing the Charity can provide them is a sense of belonging and grounding, and the Charity’s youth activities/spaces provided across MAC centers are geared towards fulfilling this need. MAC centers are places youth know they can come to be with others just like them, all the while gaining a sense of identity. The concept may seem simple, but it is the consistency in programming across the Charity’s centers that help youth to understand the importance of community, and in turn service to community.

Such spaces are used for community programs in general throughout the week, but on Friday or Saturday evenings are typically reserved for the Youth Group for structured programming. Throughout the week youth who come to pray may request from the centre manager to use the space between prayers.

All centres have annual plans and quarterly reports that include structured activities for youth. Chapters and youth departments also plan and implement structured and monitored youth activities in the centre spaces.

Centres policies require monitoring and safety of youth and children. The head office makes sure that policies are implemented by centre managers and they regularly report on the usage of space.

All programs are organized and supervised by qualified supervisors and mentors under the supervision of the centre managers or the local chapter. Centre managers are responsible to supervise all activities in the centre including all youth spaces.

The following are some aspects of their job descriptions as set out in the attached Schedule “7”:

• Develop annual strategic plan and budget for the Centre, implement the plan and report on its progress to the Centre Management Board on monthly basis;

• Implement the organization’s strategies through the Centre and ensure National objectives are met;

• Plan and administer regular programming and special events for the Centre; responsible for the creation of procedures for the day-to-day operations and activities of the Centre;

• Coordinate tasks with Centre committee and subcommittees;

• Recruit staff and volunteers as required while coordinating with Head Office.

The CRA concludes at page 84 that, “[t]herefore, it is preliminary conclusion that the Organization’s youth programming is not sufficiently structured and focused to actually address or prevent the specific problem faced by youth.” The CRA has ignored the substantial activity reports provided to it, and the thousands of youth benefiting from organized and structured activities by the MAC Youth department. The CRA has chosen to highlight exceptions where youth space may be accessed under supervision throughout the week to conclude that youth activities are overall not sufficiently structured and focused to address youth problems.

The Charity invests substantial resources to train and develop youth leaders in order to ensure its programming offers structured activities that meet its charitable purpose of advancing religion.

For instance, in 2016, 250 youth participated in the Charity’s self-development Rawahil Program, a 2-year Youth Leadership Development program. In 2016, the Charity’s advanced leadership camp (Tarbiya and Ilm Camp) for building youth leaders was expanded to two camps – organized in the East and West regions due to the demand. The MAC Youth Department held its annual Central Annual Meeting (CAM), a Canada-wide annual forum for MAC youth leaders, to share successes, experiences and best-practices.

In 2015, 300 youth participated in the Rawahil Program. The Charity organized another successful Tarbiya and Ilm Camp for youth leaders and its CAM. The Charity also held a Leadership Training Program designed for university student leaders. The Charity ran a unique program called “Aspire to Inspire,” a bi-weekly workshop dealing with contemporary issues faced by teenagers.

As such, the Charity does not agree with the CRA’s conclusion. Many organizations offer strictly recreational and social activities. However, MAC Youth programs are well known across Canada to be centered around spiritual and self-development with trained mentors and youth leaders.

Educational Muslim Achievement Awards Night (EMAAN)

At page 84 of the AFL the CRA alleges “[o]ur review of the Educational Muslim Achievement Awards Night (EMAAN) program found that this program has transformed from a scholarship awards program into a mix of charitable and non- charitable activities. As detailed below, the program has evolved to include an evening of dinner and entertainment which appear to be more about public relations and outreach than advancing education”

EMAAN is entirely a scholarship and awards program to encourage youth to excel as part of a comprehensive understanding of Islam that the Charity adopts. Therefore, the entire program fits the Charity’s charitable purpose of promoting religion within its respective communities. Like many programs that the Charity delivers, there is a primary objective and also several incidental objectives. However, at page 85 the AFL states, “[t]he Organization’s promotional brochure lists EMAAN as a part of the Organization’s outreach efforts which is described as seeking ‘to empower Muslims to build networks and partnerships with other local organizations, faith communities and governmental agencies to support vibrant communities and work toward common goals to advance social justice based on fairness and mutual respect.’”

These are not the primary objective of the program. They are by-products of the event. The CRA also alleges “[f]urther, the Organization states that as a program EMAAN ‘is evolving into a venue to celebrate Muslim contributions to the development of the scientific, technological and cultural domains of Canadian society.’ This evolution, as described by the Organization, appears to be pushing the focus of the event away from the charitable aspects (scholarships) towards non- charitable aspects.” Recognising Muslim excellence in the domains of science, technology, art, and culture are within a charitable purpose based on the Charity’s understanding of Islam.

Within the Muslim community in Canada, the ability to share common values with the rest of the country, like democracy and pluralism, while holding on to its own respective religious principles, is a testament to the positive and developing Muslim community leadership in Canada. The Charity has played a significant part in this development.

The presence of Canadian Muslims excelling in their fields can be seen in many sectors such as non-profit, business and sports. In 2014, Macleans annual ‘The 50 Most Important People in Canada’ included Alia Hogben, the executive director for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, who in 2012 was given the Order of Canada for her work on women’s rights and interfaith dialogues. Many Muslims, including many of the Charity’s leaders, have been presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Further evidence can be seen across various board participation of non-profits and government appointed boards, including Sick Kids, the United Way, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty Canada, Trillium Health Partners, and Peel Police Services, among many examples across the country.

The Charity believes that as part of its objective to advance religion it must inspire, enable, and engage people to uphold the fundamental values of faith, justice, and being of benefit to all of humanity. The Charity’s holistic understanding of Islam inspires it to provide Muslims the tools and the opportunity to serve society in every arena of human contribution. The Charity plays an intellectual and spiritual role to inspire people to do good in society, an institutional role as a catalyst to enable people to have an impact, and a direct role as an organization to advance its mission. In each of these roles, the good that the Charity envisions is not limited to its community or its society but must extend to all of humanity. Constructive engagement with all those who work for justice and service is an integral part of the Charity’s understanding of its tradition.

Canadian Muslims have come such a long way in all fields of leadership, achievement, and commitment to serve their community. Recognition of Muslims who contribute to society by being leaders in the sciences, technology, business, law, social sciences, and ethics through the EMAAN program continues to inspire youth to be the best Canadian Muslims they can be. This is fundamentally advancing religion in Canada.

The CRA alleges “[b]ased on our review of the financial transactions related to EMAAN, it appears that the main expenditures of the events include awards, meals, and catering. After a review of the source documents the CRA considers the awards to be a charitable expenditure by the Organization, but the dinner and outreach portion of the event do not advance education in a charitable sense. As such, the amount spent on meals and catering for the event, that were reported by the Organization as 100% charitable expenditure, have been isolated and reclassified as non-charitable expenditures.” The dinner component of EMAAN is the final segment of the program after celebrating the achievements. The program entails selection, promotion, application, judging, interviews, screening and education. Like any community program, it is common to provide refreshments or a dinner. The PR aspect of the dinner is a by-product of the success of this program.

SASCO – Solar Panels (7220-01)

The CRA states at page 87 that, “[a]lthough the Organization provided the loan for the purpose of facilitating the construction of solar panels the project did not move forward and the Organization did not receive anything for the money it loaned. Based on the financial statements it does not appear as though the Organization has been able to collect this outstanding liability.”

The CRA further states, “[i]t is unclear as to what, if any, due diligence the Organization conducted before choosing SASCO as a partner. Had the Organization conducted research into the viability of SASCO as an implementing partner it may have found that SASCO was the subject of a lawsuit for failure to fulfill its obligations in relation to another FIT Contract owned by Hybridyne Power Generation Corporation.” MAC completed legal due diligence through its law firm when the agreement was developed by them.

As soon as MAC identified concern around the integrity of the vendor, MAC took immediate intervention and risk management. No further payments were made. In fact, MAC was able to recover $50,000 of the loan amount. MAC took further action and filed legal action against the vendor.

The CRA concludes that “[a]s a result, the CRA considers the Organization devoted resources to this non-charitable activity during fiscal 2015 in the amount of $175,000.” The Charity viewed its Feed-In Tariff Contract (FIT Contract) as an opportunity to produce revenue to pursue a public benefit. Ultimately, the revenue generated by this contract allows the Charity to advance its charitable purpose.