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This paper examines the legal, financial, political and organizational factors that shape the decisions of international development NGOs in Canada about whether and how to engage in policy advocacy. It highlights how easily NGOs can be led to self-censor, even in an apparently strong democracy.
This paper examines the legal, financial, political and organizational factors that shape the decisions of international development NGOs in Canada about whether and how to engage in policy advocacy. Based on analysis of quantitative data and over 100 interviews with NGO leaders conducted since 2016, the paper highlights the relative silence of Canadian NGOs in advocacy on public policy issues related to global justice. The paper argues that socially constructed misunderstandings of legal regulations, persistent fears of charity regulators, difficulties fundraising for advocacy work, and fears of jeopardizing government funding lead most Canadian NGOs to avoid policy engagement completely. The small number of NGOs that do engage in policy advocacy prefer insider strategies (lobbying) over public campaigns and rarely engage Canadian citizens in advocacy work. In the context of global concerns about the shrinking of civic space, the paper highlights the many ways that international development NGOs are led to silence themselves even in apparently strong democracies.