Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk announced details Friday of the Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act. This is a Private Members Bill, something Falk drew the number one spot for this session.

Currently, federal tax credits for political contributions far exceed the federal tax credits for donations to registered charities in Canada.

"The Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act will level the playing field between donations to political parties and donations to registered charitable organizations," says Falk. "Feeding politicians should never be more important than feeding the hungry."

As an example, Falk says if an individual from Ontario makes a donation during the year to a registered charity totalling $400, under the current charitable tax credit system, that person will receive a federal tax credit of $88.00 and a provincial tax credit of $33.30 for a total of $121.30. The actual cost of that donation is $278.70. Under the Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act, that person would receive a federal tax credit of $300 as well as the tax credit of $33.30 from the Province of Ontario for a total of $333.30 in total tax credits. That actual cost of this $400 donation would now be only $66.70.

"So there's a significant difference between the tax deduction that would be available under this new act that I'm proposing," says Falk. "It would just encourage people to give more freely, to support the local charities that we all know are doing a tremendous work."

But Falk says the impact of this Bill could have a $1.2 billion effect on revenue that the Government currently collects on taxable income. Though he says that $1.2 billion goes back into the pockets of taxpayers, which further stimulates the economy. And he says Canadians will likely use some of this money to increase their donations to charities.

Falk introduced the Bill Thursday in the House of Commons. He says it has received tremendous support from the Conservative Caucus, as well as Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Senators.

The first hour of debate on this bill is expected to happen in March. The second hour will probably happen later this spring.