Metis in the NWT shouldn’t have to pay property taxes on cabins in the bush, said Northwest Territory Metis Nation president Garry Bailey, but the GNWT disagrees with the suggestion that these taxes limit Indigenous people’s rights.
"The Indigenous Metis Members of the NWTMN have a right to build and utilize traditional use cabins throughout the traditional territory of the NWTMN,” Bailey asserted in a press release on June 12. “This right has always been exercised by the Indigenous Metis Members and our Indigenous Metis Members will continue to do so.”
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Finance department spokesperson Todd Sasaki said that while the GNWT “fully recognizes and respects existing Aboriginal and treaty rights,” it does not believe the taxation of cabins restricts the practice of these rights.
“Numerous courts have confirmed that there is no general right to a tax exemption for Indigenous peoples,” wrote Sasaki in an email.
Bailey disagrees, saying the taxes do make exercising the right to traditional practices harder.
In an interview with News/North after the press release was issued, Bailey talked about how cabins allow elders to go out and pick berries without having to catch a ride back into town; how cabins in the bush make it easier for families to bring children out, to spend time with them teaching them about the land.
Bailey said property taxes make it hard for people without much income to afford to do this.
Right now, the NWTMN and the GNWT are in the midst of negotiating a land claim agreement.
Bailey said property taxes on cabins are a top priority in these negotiations and Sasaki said the it has “consistently encouraged the NWTMN to resolve these questions through the finalization of a land claim agreement.”
But Bailey said these agreements are not so simple to resolve speedily and in the meantime his people are paying for something for which they should not have to pay.
“It’s like me coming into your house, sitting down at the table and asking you to pay me to be there,” he said.
Sasaki wrote that the Property Assessment and Taxation Act applies to all properties in the NWT, including cabins used for whatever purposes, unless these have been specifically exempted in an agreement.
“The GNWT is committed to reaching a Final Agreement with NWTMN and believes that any benefits – including potential tax exemption – should not be extended until an agreement is reached,” wrote Sasaki.