The tax-exempt charity of an anti-vax, anti-SOGI ex-Burnaby political candidate from New Westminster has seen revenues skyrocket by more than 400 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic – but her partisan political activity may be running afoul of Income Tax Act rules.
Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson’s political forays in Burnaby have included a run at school board in 2018 and a federal by-election bid in Burnaby South with Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada in 2019.
For the past few weeks, she's been campaigning hard for Bernier in the Portage-Lisgar byelection in Manitoba, a contest some had cast as a referendum on Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre’s grip on his political base.
“Vote-in Maxime Bernier; send a message to the Conservative Party of Canada,” Tyler Thompson said in an interview posted on her website on June 5.
The NOW reached out to Tyler Thompson for comment about her partisan political activity while at the head of a registered charity.
“I’m very familiar with the charitable act and govern myself accordingly,” Tyler Thompson said in an email.
Charity booming since pandemic
Throughout her political campaigns, Tyler Thompson has been the face of Sheppard Ministries Society d.b.a. Laura Lynn Ministries.
She was one of three directors of the charity in 2021 (the most recent year for which information is available).
Between 2019 and 2021, the charity’s revenue jumped 400 per cent, from $76,211 in 2019 to $395,800 in 2021, according to CRA documents.
In 2019, the charity had two employees and paid out a total of $23,991 in compensation. In 2021, it had four employees and paid out $149,378.
Travel and vehicle expenses exploded by 760 per cent from $5,510 in 2019 to $47,476 in 2021.
The charity’s assets are also up from $55,225 in 2019 to $141,490 in 2021.
On Tyler Thompson’s website and newsletter, there are multiple ways to donate to fund her online videos, which focus on politics, as well as what she describes as transgender and COVID-19 vaccine “nonsense.”
Clicking on one of two “donate” buttons will take you the Laura Lynn Ministries (Sheppard Ministries Society) page on canadahelps.org, a website of Canadian charities where you can donate and get a tax receipt.
You can also eTransfer money directly to her Protonmail email address or send a cheque to her New Westminster post office box.
“Contributions received are used to fund the expenses of Laura-Lynn Ministries, which is operated to advance the outreach of Laura-Lynn,” states the website.
Partisan politics
The Income Tax Act, however, prohibits charities from engaging in partisan politics.
Since a change in the law in December 2018, a charity is allowed to carry on unlimited non-partisan political activities (now called public policy dialogue and development activities), but it is still not allowed to use “any part of its resources to the direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office.”
Tyler Thompson’s website and newsletter, meanwhile, are filled with endorsements for Maxime Bernier and the PPC and with direct criticism of Poilievre, the Conservative Party of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Government.
In the June 5 interview, Tyler Thompson described Trudeau as a judgment from God for former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s failure to bring in anti-abortion legislation.
Another video describes Poilievre as “Trudeau lite.”
“You shouldn’t be voting for the Conservative Party of Canada,” Tyler Thompson said in the June 5 interview.
And numerous recent videos show Tyler Thompson actively campaigning with and for Bernier in Manitoba in the run-up to the byelection.
No time for questions
Tyler Thompson requested and was sent a list of questions from the NOW about her charity and political activity.
Once she got them, however, she said she didn’t have time to answer them.
The NOW has also contacted the Canada Revenue Agency with questions about Sheppard Ministries, but confidentiality provisions in the Income Tax Act prevent it from making any comment on specific charities.
CRA actions or feedback related to registered charities are only made public when it revokes charitable status or otherwise penalizes a charity.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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