Nelson Sergerie

PERCÉ – The Town of Percé, the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) and the Citizens-Commerchants Committee of Percé, have filed their brief with the Court of Appeal of Quebec regarding the appeal on the tourist fee. The Town of Percé initiated the appeal after a decision in June 2023 overturned the regulation.
The Town of Percé and the UMQ filed their briefs in January, while the Citizens-Merchants Committee submitted theirs on February 9.

With all parties’ briefs now with the Court of Appeal, the next step is to schedule a hearing date, which could take several more weeks before proceeding and additional time for a decision to be reached.
The regulation on the tourist fee was invalidated by the Superior Court in a decision rendered on June 16, 2023.
Adopted in the first form on September 28, 2021, and amended on June 14, 2022, Judge Isabelle Germain wrote, in her 24-page decision, that “the Court thinks that both Regulation 575-2021 initially adopted by the defendant and the Regulation 600-2022 are void in that they do not respect the enabling powers prescribed by the LCV (Editor’s note: Cities and Towns Law) relating to municipal fees. This framework indeed allows a municipality to agree to make a third-party collector of the fee, but this role of collector cannot be imposed as in this case. In doing so, she exceeds her powers.”

The judge added that “the Court can only note (…) that the provincial legislature has not delegated to the municipalities the power to regulate the collection of such a fee without prior agreement.”
Consequently, the regulations must be declared void and illegal, wrote the magistrate.
The Town of Percé has suspended the tourist fee until the Court of Appeal renders a decision.
During its only year of application in the summer of 2022, the fee generated $155,000, which is currently frozen until the legal debate is over.

A $1 fee was applied to each transaction of $20 or more in businesses, including restaurants, souvenir sales and recreational tourism activities. Non-taxable products such as alcohol and cannabis were exempt. Hotel stays were taxed at $1 per night.

The legal challenge to the tourist fee cost taxpayers $70,000 in the first instance. The mayor of Percé, Cathy Poirier, mentioned in July an additional bill of $30,000 to $40,000 would be added for the appeal process.