The environment is a good cause. Too good. Everyone is asking for it, trying to find out who is greener than the neighbor.
It should come as no surprise, then, that dozens and dozens of nonprofit organizations receive sizable donations. The benefactors want to give them the means to carry their message loud and clear. Governments also write their checks so as not to find themselves on the blacklist of unbelievers who ignore the cause. Millions in subsidies, you guess it.
Interesting investigation by veteran Canadian press writer Pierre Saint-Arnaud on the salaries paid to managers of organizations working in the environmental, conservation and animal protection sectors. He searched the public records of the Canada Revenue Agency.
The investigation reveals that 17 of these large organizations offer their leaders salaries that exceed… those of provincial premiers. We are therefore talking about annual salaries which are in the range of $200,000 to $250,000. (A few exceed $300,000.)
Examples
The list of organizations most generous to their leaders ranges from the David Suzuki Foundation to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), including the Atlantic Salmon Federation and Ducks Unlimited. These are organizations that have a good reputation and to which few questions are asked.
Yet they have grown into major organizations, with budgets in the tens of millions, hundreds of employees, and considerable influence. They essentially live off two main sources of income: (voluntary) donations from the public and (less voluntary) taxes from the public.
They also survive thanks to the tireless work of their thousands of volunteers. Men and women who give their time without compensation, in the name of the cause. In some cases, volunteers don’t even claim their travel expenses, so they pay out of pocket to volunteer.
The answer will be that the leaders of such organizations must demonstrate competence, defend issues in public, and mobilize their troops. Skill is paid for in the 2000s.
But seriously, is it normal that so many leaders of so-called charitable organizations earn more than prime ministers? Above all, are donors aware of this? And the volunteers? As for the ministers who grant them considerable sums of money, I wonder if they knew that the president of the organization earns much more than they themselves.
What always scares me about good causes is the natural tendency to turn a blind eye. Our governments have wasted millions in green funds because of this. Which opposition MP would take the risk of standing up to criticize a so-called “GREEN” fund?
Conservation and environmental organizations play an important role. But they must not be given a free pass when it comes to accountability and transparency.