Muslim Association of Canada asks court shutdown of federal audit, alleges systemic Islamophobia

The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) has launched a court application to halt a federal audit of its activities as a registered charity.

The association alleges systemic islamophobia in Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) practices and the specific infringement of of MAC’s Charter right by the audit.

According to MAC, although no decision has been made, the charity has been subjected to an audit by the CRA which it says threatens MAC “with extreme sanctions that are completely unjustified by the findings of the Audit report.”

“The Audit would never have been approached in the way it has been had the organization in question been Christian, Jewish or Hindu,” said Geoff Hall, lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in a statement. “Facts which are innocuous, and that would be regarded as such for a faith-based organization of a religion other than Islam, have been taken as a basis for suspicion of MAC and its activities.”

The association lists several CRA allegations including that:

• The association’s activities, such as Eid celebrations, are not religious but rather social;
• Its sports, social, and recreational activities directed at youth do not provide a charitable benefit;
• There are purported links between the association and foreign entities, a finding based on four emails out of tens of thousands reviewed by the agency.

The association stresses that the audit report did not find any evidence the charity is involved in terrorist financing or affiliated with terrorist organizations.

The court application looks to order a halt to the audit, on the grounds that it violates MAC’s charter guarantees of equality and freedom of religion, expression and association.