By Terrance S. Carter, Sean S. Carter, and Nancy E. Claridge

CRA Releases Updated Antiterrorism Checklist

On August 20, 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) released a new, updated version of its longstanding antiterrorism checklist. The checklist links to numerous other web pages on the topic, which CRA states as intending to assist charities reduce their risk of exposure to terrorist abuse and money laundering (“Updated Checklist”) The links to the various parts of the Updated Checklist is as follows:

• Checklist: How to protect your charity against terrorist abuse
• Educating charities about the risks of terrorist abuse
• Framework to safeguard the charitable sector
• Assessing and reducing terrorist risks to charities
• Reporting terrorism or charity non-compliance

The Updated Checklist is a completely revised and significantly expanded CRA resource tool and contains much more extensive recommended protocols for compliance than the previous checklist, as well as including more comprehensive warnings of consequences if a charity fails to comply. For any charity that is directly or indirectly involved in charitable programmes where there might be the possibility of some type of intersection with terrorist groups or terrorist activities for whatever reason, whether it be in Canada or abroad, the Updated Checklist will be essential reading for senior management and all members of the charities’ board of directors.

For those charities either operating in or considering operating in an area controlled by a terrorist group, like in Afghanistan, it will also be essential to review the Guidelines published by Public Safety Canada in June, 2024 concerning Criminal Code exceptions when providing aid in areas controlled by terrorist groups. The following is a link to our AML/ATF and Charity Law Alert No. 54, on the Guidelines dated June 27, 2024.

Recent NGO Report Criticizes UN Counterterrorism Efforts as Stifling Civil Society Organizations

A report by the Global Center on Cooperative Security and Rights & Security International (“Report”) highlights that despite the potential benefits of engagement with UN counterterrorism efforts, many civil society organisations (“CSOs”) find the risks too high. These risks include government reprisals, increased regulation, and the possibility of being used as a token gesture rather than being meaningfully involved in decision-making processes.

The Report underscores the need for the UN to take actionable steps to protect civil society and ensure that its counterterrorism measures do not erode civic space and human rights. This includes addressing the widespread misuse of counterterrorism policies by member countries, which often leads to violence, repression, and the silencing of dissent.

The Report also calls on the UN to recognize civil society as equal partners and agents of change rather than passive participants in the global counterterrorism agenda. The engagement between the UN and civil society should not only meet the needs of the UN and its member states but also align with the interests and concerns of CSOs. This requires a shift in the UN's approach, moving away from tokenism and instead towards genuine collaboration that allows civil society to influence the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of counterterrorism policies.

The Report concludes that while the challenge is significant, even incremental progress could improve the situation, advancing the mutual goals of civil society and the UN in addressing the negative impacts of counterterrorism measures on human rights and civic space. However, achieving this will require a serious commitment from the UN and member countries to prioritize civil society engagement and address the power imbalances that currently exist.

In summary, the Report presents a sobering view of the current state of civil society engagement with the UN on counterterrorism, emphasizing the urgent need for reform to ensure that civil society can operate without fear of repression and that their voices will be heard in global counterterrorism efforts.

​Read the August 2024 Charity & NFP Law Update