Canadian Mayor Wants To Become The First To Finally Tax The Catholic Church

A Canadian mayor has announced plans to make the Catholic Church finally pay tax.

It's believed to be the first time the Church's tax exemption would be overturned in the country and could be one of the first in the world.

Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell is keen on removing the land tax exemption that the Church has enjoyed in the city for decades.

He's made his intentions clear following the discovery of at least 1,000 of unmarked graves at four former Catholic-run residential schools.

Many of the victims are Indigenous children and there are fears there are many more bodies underneath the hundreds of schools run by the Church across the country.

Reacting to the discovery, Bell wrote on Twitter: "My heart breaks with them...I wanted to make sure that we showed solidarity with Inuit, Indigenous and Métis people across our country that are suffering from hearing this news.

"We cannot allow the churches...who refuse to apologize and acknowledge their involvement in all of these deaths...to have free reign in our country anymore."

The Catholic Church has stayed tight lipped on the issue and several churches have mysteriously burned down in the wake of the scandal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on the Pope to apologise on behalf of the Church for the past, however those calls have fallen on deaf ears.

This lack of response has prompted Bell to look into making the Church pay in other ways.

Bell told CTV News: "Because of the gruesome past and terrifying future we are waiting to see. Because [the Catholic Church is] refusing to apologise, I want to remove their tax exemption. I'm hoping for other politicians and other cities to do the exact same thing."

He acknowledges that the Council will have to vote on the measure and he's worried it could fail as several members are religious.

He said (via CBC): "I just don't know how people will vote. The Catholic church needs to apologise. And I think this is the only way we can make them.

"As non-Indigenous members of Canada, we need to stand with Indigenous people, we have to do it. The stronger we make Indigenous people ... the more we bring them up front, the stronger our country is going to be."

He noted there's one church in Iqaluit that has land with a value of about $1 million. That could result in some serious money going to the Council's coffers. Bell said he would try and channel some of that money to affordable housing.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Canada

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie