Tories vow tax credit for club memberships

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This article was published 24/08/2015 (4033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT was a quiet day on the federal campaign trail Sunday, but Stephen Harper made a little bit of noise that could help underprivileged children at home and abroad.

The Conservative leader told an audience in Rockland, Ont., service-club members will get a tax break if his party is re-elected in October.

People who belong to the Kiwanis, Lions, the Royal Canadian Legion and other like-minded organizations will get a tax credit on their annual membership fees, Harper said.

‘Having this credit would make it a lot easier to be involved. You don’t think there are going to be costs when you join a volunteer organization’

Michael Gibbens, a director with Kiwanis Winnipeg, said some relief on its yearly dues of $150 would be a “real benefit.”

“Having this credit would make it a lot easier to be involved. You don’t think there are going to be costs when you join a volunteer organization,” he said.

Kiwanis’s annual dues go toward advertising, promotional videos and materials members hand out.

The organization’s work includes helping underprivileged kids in Winnipeg by raising money for playgrounds and getting more books in schools, but its reach extends well beyond Canada’s borders. It’s also working toward eliminating neo-natal tetanus in lesser developed countries.

Frank Cosway, president of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg, wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.

“It’s not that big a deal. If it’s offered, it would be a benefit. It may make it easier for some people to join service clubs. I wouldn’t view it as a bad thing. People aren’t clamouring for it, though,” he said.

There are about 300 Rotary Club members in Winnipeg, all of whom pay annual dues of about $340.

The Rotary Club is a group of business and community leaders that focuses on local and international projects with a special emphasis on children.

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It had 170 kids taking part in the Rotary Leadership Circle this summer, where they learned about leadership skills and doing community service. It also had 850 children participating in five-week CSI (Community School Investigators), a learning-enrichment program that helps them bridge from the end of the last school year to the beginning of the next.

Farther away from home, the Rotary Club provides scholarships for students in Sudan and Ghana and it also works with AIDS-infected orphans in South Africa.

Harper was the only leader of the main parties expected to hold a public event Sunday.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had no campaign events planned.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca