Iqaluit’s ‘punitive’ church tax should be repealed, priest says ahead of council vote
Municipal leaders to consider relief for Roman Catholic Church at Tuesday meeting
Rev. Barry Bercier of Iqaluit’s Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic Church says Iqaluit church property taxes are “unconstitutional.” (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
An Iqaluit priest says it’s “unconstitutional” and an infringement on religious freedoms for the city to levy property tax on churches and is calling for council to end the practice.
Iqaluit city council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to grant Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic Church a 75 per cent relief on the church’s 2023 and 2024 property tax bills, a combined total of $76,516.
A 75 per cent reduction, if allowed, would shave $57,387 off that total, leaving the church with a bill of $19,129 for the two-year period. In a report to council, city staff is recommending the reduction be approved.
The Islamic Society of Nunavut was granted a similar exemption in November for its 2023 and 2024 property taxes.
The Catholic church has advocated for years to have the tax repealed entirely for churches in Iqaluit rather than being reduced each year.
“The longer it stays on, it acquires a kind of legitimacy that I don’t think it should have,” said Rev. Barry Bercier, who is based at Our Lady of Assumption, in a phone interview Monday afternoon.
Unlike most of the rest of Canada, where religious organizations are exempt from municipal property taxes, the City of Iqaluit collects this tax.
The practice started in 2022 with council’s approval of a bylaw amendment in response to the discovery of 751 suspected unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School, about 160 kilometres east of Regina.
The tax is “punitive,” Bercier said, and would “destroy” the Iqaluit Catholic church if it remains.
“It would take just two or three years of paying the tax that they want from us, and we would be bankrupt,” he said.
Iqaluit city council voted in December to exempt religious institutions from the property tax in 2026. That happened after 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.
“We think it’s a really bad idea,” Bercier said of the Iqaluit property tax on churches.
“It encourages other places to do the same thing, because everybody needs money. It would be really destructive for the churches in Canada.”
Did he mean to say the property tax is “unconscionable”? Because there’s a difference, and the reporter could have helped sort that out before printing an error.
No, unconstitutional is correct. Imposing punitive taxes on churches threatens their existence and thus threatens the community gathering places of worship of the religious. That’s an infringement of human rights as well as the constitution.
There is no provision in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the Constitution Act that prevents the government from taxing religious institutions.
I support the taxation of churches.
Call it a pollution tax, for contaminating the minds of generations with lies and childish fantasies.
Where is the money going that they can’t pay taxes? They can apparently afford to build residential units to support their church operations, why can’t they pay taxes? What positive contributions have these churches and organized religion made to communities other than shame and traumatize people? Tax them or they can leave.
You’re thinking of the other financially bloated institution, the Anglican church, the Church of England. Same wolf, different (but similar) costumes.
This American-born-and-raised priest is trying to impose the American constitutional norms on Iqalummiut. Our Canadian constitution allows for property taxes to be imposed on churches just like on any other organization – they use city facilities just like everyone else.
It is a matter for the territorial government and the municipality to decide. Let democracy prevail.
How much do you make, sir? Isn’t your religion one of the richest organizations in the world? If they aren’t structured to spread that wealth out to care for individual churches all over the world, it sure seems like they aren’t your brothers. And if that’s the case, why would anyone want to continue in your religion or support it in any way?
We all know that churches are not for profit businesses. They provide a community service, and rely on the congregation’s charity in order to operate. Whether you agree with religion or not, the bottom line is that they will all have to close if they are taxed by the town. Is that what we want?? All of our churches to close?? Like we have such a healthy community to begin with. Looks like Iqaluit is on its way to set another first in Canada for something that’s disturbing. Great.
Yes, it is what we want. We want all churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples to close down. If they abide by non-denominational rules, and pay for their share of municipal services that they use to have story-time, then they are free to stay.
All residents pay property tax for municipal services. The city must balance its budget. If they reduce/remove the fees for places of worship, that must be made up through the rest of the residents. Atheist residents should not be subsiding other peoples’ religions.
Pay your tithe/zakat if you want to keep your institutions.
There are lots of religious organizations in town. It’s just the two most entitled (and oddly enough, richest ) and the two that have done the most damage and the two that pay their clergy the most that are publicly whining and somehow on the verge of bankruptcy.
“We all know that churches are not for profit businesses.”
Cool. Non profits are taxed. Glad you are in support of this.
Joking aside, the amount of money these churches send to their places down south , and the amount of money they pool in outweighs what they do in community efforts. money is flowing out of nunavut through the church.
There needs to be a bigger picture here, Baffin island has a wealth of land (mining resources). We should be utilizing that aspect to increase the wealth of nunavut, not already high taxes on businesses and private home owners (churches depending on there revenue streams). With larger living costs already than anywhere else in Canada. The true failure is the birth right organizations that are not making these commitments. There are many other countries utilizing their natural wealth to benefit the people and not just Nunavut, but Canada is failing its people in this area of economic viability.
The Church is the wealthiest business in the history of humanity. They should be taxed, and they should be taxed heavily.
Get rid of it and build a homeless shelter for Iqaluit.
At least it may turn into a bit.
Remember the oppression by “churches”?😈👺
Churches are corporations. They sell goods and services, whether for profit or not. They should be taxed like any other corporation, for the benefit of the community. Should NorthMart be able to claim they are special If people don’t use their their goods and services? Their are lots of prayers concerning their prices.