Charities Legislation and Commentary - 2006 Edition
By Elena Hoffstein, Terrance Carter & Adam Parachin; 523 pages; published by Butterworths LexisNexis
Reviewed by Adam Aptowitzer, Drache LLP - Tax, Estates & Charity Law, Ottawa
Charities Legislation and Commentary addresses the need - noticed by many students and new lawyers - for a general gloss on the laws that have a specific impact on Canadian charities and not-for-profits. The book begins with 27 pages of commentary on the roughly 470 pages of excerpted paragraphs from federal and Ontario laws pertaining to charities. The 17 to 1 ratio of law to commentary is evidence of the book's focus on a broad collection of laws as opposed to a detailed analysis of their practical applications. The book's strength lies in its collection of lesser known and used laws and provisions that might otherwise be overlooked by the casual practitioner. For example, the book cites the Accumulations Act, the Religious Organizations Lands Act, the Canada - U.S. Tax Convention Act, and the Donation of Food Act in addition to the more commonly used acts.
Undoubtedly, this book will be a big help to younger practitioners who have not yet developed the body of knowledge necessary to show familiarity with some of the lesser known acts, or even some of the better known ones. Charities Legislation and Commentary clearly fills a need in the sector for a general text that brings together the different provisions applicable to charities. It complements some of the already existing texts that aim to provide detailed analysis and commentary on some of the more commonly used acts such as the Income Tax Act, or the Corporations Act. Where this book might benefit in the future would be to include more detailed commentary and annotations on the various Acts. Of course, that is an ambitious project but this book remains a very good first step in achieving a unified and detailed text for those that practice in the sector.
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