Trustee-elect on Vancouver School Board deemed 'ineligible individual' by Canada Revenue Agency

A man recently elected as a school trustee in Vancouver has a long history of problems with the Canada Revenue Agency related to his work as a director or executive at a number of different charities that have been sanctioned by the federal agency.

Most recently, The Headwaters Foundation, which lists Christopher Richardson as a director, had its charitable status revoked.

In its decision, the CRA wrote “it was found that the Foundation failed to devote resources to a charitable purpose, failed to meet its disbursement quota, and failed to file an information return as and when required.”

The agency questioned whether the foundation was involved in any charitable work at all.

“It is our position that the Foundation was operated for the non-charitable purpose of facilitating a private tax planning arrangement, similar to the situation in Prescient Foundation v MNR where the court held that ‘these transactions amounted to participating in a tax planning arrangement for the private benefit of others and, as such, were not entered into for charitable purposes,’” the CRA said.

The CRA also noted Richardson was previously listed as a director of a charity called Theanon Foundation, which had its registration revoked in February 2018.

“Mr. Richardson meets the definition of ineligible individual,” the CRA said.

When A Better City Vancouver, the civic party Richardson ran with during part of the campaign, learned of problems with the CRA in September it dropped him as a candidate.

Because the ballots had already been printed, ABC still appeared next to Richardson’s name on the ballot – and voters elected him as a trustee with the Vancouver School Board, which happens to be a registered charity.

Richardson’s ineligible individual designation means the CRA could revoke the charitable status of any organization he is involved in.

"These provisions are discretionary as the CRA makes a determination on a case-by-case basis,” the CRA said in a statement.

Richardson believes he can still do the job and has hired a lawyer to provide an opinion on his behalf.

“It’s a distraction that is interfering with my ability to carry out my duties and responsibilities as a school trustee to help vulnerable kids,” he told CTV News in a telephone interview.

Others are not convinced he should have run in the election given the ambiguity surrounding his ability to serve in the role of school trustee.

“How can you run for school board, which is a registered charity, even though you’re an ineligible individual and you have been for at least four years?” said Vivian Krause, a researcher who writes a blog about problematic charitable foundations.

The VSB did not directly answer questions regarding Richardson’s eligibility, only saying in a statement that the election results were confirmed on Oct. 19, and that “regular due diligence steps will be taken” before the new board is sworn in on Nov. 7.

L. John Alexander, a lawyer with experience working with charitable organizations, told CTV News if he was advising the board, he would recommend it proactively reach out to the CRA to explain the situation.

“I would advise the board to immediately contact Canada Revenue Agency and say, ‘Look, this person is involved, but here are the checks and balances in place, the professional money management we have in place’ so as to relieve CRA of any concerns,” Alexander said.

Barring any last minute moves by the CRA, Richardson appears set to be sworn in alongside the rest of the trustees next week.