A closer look at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and where it gets its support
Startling news of a legal advocacy organization hiring a private investigator to drum up dirt on a Manitoba judge has put an otherwise little-known charity on headlines across the province – the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
On Monday, Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal recounted how he was followed by a private investigator in an effort to gather evidence of him breaking public health orders.
The private investigation firm was hired by John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, the group representing seven Manitoba churches and several individuals who are challenging Manitoba's health orders.
Who is John Carpay and what does the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms do?
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms was founded in 2010 and describes itself as a “voice for freedom in Canada’s courtrooms.”
It has represented people challenging COVID-19-related tickets and took part in a legal challenge against gay-straight alliances in Alberta schools.
More recently, the Justice Centre said it will be representing Maxime Bernier in court over his arrest in Manitoba for breaking public health orders.
Carpay built the organization into a not-for-profit with considerable financial assets.
Currently, the organization’s highest-paid employee makes between $120,000 to $159,999, according to data from the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA).
Seven other full-time employees make up the Centre’s staff, along with six part-time workers.
The Justice Centre, however, didn’t always boast such a large staff and assets.
In 2011, based on a financial statement released on the Justice Centre’s website which has since been removed, the Centre had $50,900 in total assets and received tax-receipted donations amounting to $269, 771
Tax-receipted donations are those that allow the donor to receive a tax credit for the funds given.
Three years later, in 2014, the Justice Centre claimed $133,271 in assets and received $463,502 in donations.
That’s jumped a considerable amount in the six years since, with available data from the Canada revenue Agency showing the Justice Centre, registered as not-for-profit, with total assets amounting to $1,742,314 in 2020.
The Justice Centre received $2,639,500 in donations, according to CRA data.
A bulk of those donations, $2,092,898 are tax-receipted donations.
The Justice Centre also received $466,319 from other registered charities in 2020 and slightly less, $463,008 in 2019.
Information provided by CharityData.ca, which compiles donations charities make from other charities, shows that the Justice Centre received donations from an array of charitable organizations, most of them churches or Christian organizations.
On the Justice Centre’s website in 2016, the organization also specifically thanked support from the Aurea Foundation and the Donner Canadian Foundation.
The former funded a debate featuring former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon in Toronto in 2018, while both are known to fund conservative think-tanks in Canada.
All of the money flowing into the Justice Centre may not be from Canadian sources.
On the Justice Centre’s CRA financial profile, the organization said “yes” when asked if it had received donations or gifts valued at $10,000 or more from donors outside of Canada.
Detailed information on where, exactly, those donations came from and how they’re used does not need to be publicly disclosed by the Justice Centre and is not available to the public.
“I think that if there’s something major that’s going on that’s inappropriate or non-compliant, the CRA should have the ability to warn the public,” said Mark Blumberg, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in the non-profit sector.
“The public is in the dark and that haunts the public trust in the charity sector,” he said.
“They shouldn’t be paying for illegal things, either,” said Blumberg, in relation to Carpay’s hiring of a private investigation agency to keep tabs on Justice Joyal.
Some information does exist as to where some of the Justice Centre’s foreign donations may come from.
The Atlas Network, a Washington-based organization that generally makes donations to right-wing think-tanks, listed the Justice Centre as one of its “Global Partners” in 2018.
That distinction has since been removed on the Atlas Network’s website.
A former director of the Justice Centre, Marco Navarro-Génie, is currently listed as one of the Atlas Network’s “people” on its website.
Unless an audit is conducted by the CRA, with that information later released, it is next to impossible to determine who, or what organizations, are currently funding the Justice Centre.
University of Manitoba political science professor Karine Levasseur has submitted a complaint to the CRA calling for an audit of the organization.
“There is a sense of heightened legitimacy when an organization has charitable status,” said Lavasseur.
“It only takes one charity to erode the trust Canadians have with charities."
Lavasseur said an audit could look at financial elements including where funding is being allocated and can also include business activities of the charity in question more broadly.
“Privacy is important, but so is transparency,” she said.
“This case is a good reminder that we don’t, as a country, have suitable institutional arrangements to balance the need of privacy and transparency of registered charities.”
For privacy-related reasons, the CRA could not confirm or deny if an audit into the Justice Centre is underway or will be in the future.
John Carpay, the wake of this week’s events, is now “taking an indefinite period of leave” from the Justice Centre, the charity’s board of directors wrote on Tuesday.
The fallout from Carpay’s actions could have financial ramifications for the Justice Centre, said Mount Royal University professor Lori Williams.
She said Carpay has been involved in somewhat controversial events in the past, notably when comparing the 2SLGBTQ rainbow Pride flag to a swastika.
Carpay hiring a private investigator to drum up evidence on a judge, however, is quite different and may put a permanent dent in the Justice Centre’s reputation.
“Will the organization continue? Will it enjoy the donations it has in the past?” said Williams, adding that past donors may rethink things given Carpay’s recent action.
“The very existence of the Justice Centre, in terms of its charitable status and people being will to association with it and to donate money to the organization, all of that is up in the air,” said Williams.
The Justice Centre released a statement Thursday evening, responding to recent criticisms and the Manitoba justice minister’s call for lawyers connected to the organization to be investigated by the provincial law society.
“The Justice Centre’s mandate is to defend Canadians’ constitutional freedoms through litigation and education. Surveilling public officials is not what we do,” said Lisa Bildy, interim president for the Justice Centre.
“It was, however, a unilateral decision made by one person in the organization, who has now departed on an indefinite leave of absence,” the statement reads.
Bildy also said the Justice Centre will be reviewing its internal decision-making processes and “refocus” their mission.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Tropical fish stolen from Beachburg, Ont. restaurant found and returned
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
U.S. FAA launches investigation into unauthorized personnel in cockpit of Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.