ABSTRACT
National charity regulation was located in their national tax agencies. Canada and the United States have faced serious challenges to their administrative independence from political masters, creating internal and external controversies for regulators. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has moved closer to the charitable sector in conversing about legislative and administrative reforms over the period. In Canada, federal governments of all persuasions have attempted to constrain charities that seek to be players in the political sphere, but none has been as divisive as the recent Harper conservative government. Sue Barker is a lawyer who founded the first boutique charity law firm in New Zealand, and she shares her reflections on recent charity law reforms in that country. Sue began her career at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), but after qualifying as a lawyer progressed to the Crown Law Office, acting as counsel for the Commissioner of Inland Revenue and the attorney general.
