ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses some key points generally associated with charitable purposes. A benignant construction should be utilised where possible, 'and this is of great assistance where there is ambiguity in the terms of the trust'. In Education New Zealand Trust, Dobson J doubted that 30 per cent of a charity's activities could be said to be 'ancillary, secondary, subordinate or incidental'. This, therefore, provides a specific measurement of what might be more than ancillary. The concept of 'charitable purposes' is acknowledged as being a long-recognised one at common law, whereas charitable activities, as a concept, is 'a much more recent innovation'. Canada's Income Tax Act defines a charitable organisation as one where 'all the resources of which are devoted to charitable activities carried on by the organisation itself'. Charity may be said to be a manifestation 'of the better side of human nature', and, as a result, it is unsurprising that altruistic motives are closely associated with charitable purposes.