Iqaluit’s Catholic church gets property tax relief
Burden from 2023 and 2024 reduced after council vote
Rev. Barry Bercier of Iqaluit’s Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic church says property taxes on religious organizations should be repealed. Iqaluit council voted Tuesday to reduce the church’s tax burden. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Iqaluit’s Catholic parish will get relief on its property tax after city councillors unanimously voted Tuesday to approve the request.
Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic Church applied for a 75 per cent deduction of its 2023 and 2024 property tax bills which combined totalled $76,516.
The reduction shaves $57,387 off that amount, leaving the church with a bill of $19,129 for the two-year period.
Council granted a similar exemption to the Islamic Society of Nunavut in November for its 2023 and 2024 property taxes.
Before Tuesday night’s vote, the church’s sole priest, Rev. Barry Bercier, called the existence of the tax “unconstitutional” and an infringement on religious freedoms. He called for it to be repealed.
Religious institutions are usually exempt from municipal property taxes in Canada, but the City of Iqaluit has been collecting the tax since 2022.
The bylaw amendment introduced by then-mayor Kenny Bell was in response to the discovery of 751 suspected unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School, about 160 kilometres east of Regina.
Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa declined to comment Tuesday on whether he supports the reversal of the amendment introduced by his predecessor.
Several religious institutions, including the Catholic and Anglican churches, said the tax has been a financial hit on their Iqaluit parishes.
In December, leaders from Iqaluit’s Anglican church expressed worry that the tax debt amassed by St. Jude’s Anglican Cathedral would result in closure of the iconic igloo-shaped church.
Shortly after, Iqaluit city council voted in December to exempt religious institutions from the property tax in 2026.
AMEN HALELLUJAH!
Assuguu. Hallelujah, praise the lord !
Queue emotional arguments and insults.
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A sound policy decision on tax: what is good for the goose, is good for the gander. Preferring one community service over another on the basis of tax policy makes no sense. It only makes sense if you have a bias against religion generally.
What about this decision is sound tax policy? Please expand.
As I see it, this seems like an emotionally driven, biased statement of its own.
Good to know that Father Bercier is a constitutional expert. Exactly what section of the Constitution protects churches from taxes?
The standard for a tax deduction for any organization should be the percentage of its activities that show actual evidence that they benefit the community as a whole, directly or indirectly, rather than just members. It doesn’t have to be an exact correlation; there are often multiplier effects.
Do ±75% of the church’s activities have that benefit?