Notre-Dame asks for government support
The operators of Notre-Dame say that without tourism revenue, the church needs $30 million from government to pay for maintenance and repairs. Normally the church gets more than a million visitors a year, most of whom pay to get in. Not this year.
steph 11:33 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
have they consulted: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/business/maintaining-your-business.html
paul 11:43 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
Right, because they pay $30M annually in maintenance…ok
Kate 11:45 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
To be fair, the $30 million is for a maintenance and repair program stretched out over several years – the plan is outlined in the article.
Jack 17:51 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
How much municipal, provincial and federal tax do they pay?
Ephraim 18:02 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
Is this OWNED by the government? Are they going to pay it back? Other religions don’t get to beg money from the government… why is it okay when it’s Christian?
Kate 18:34 on 2020-08-13 Permalink
Ephraim, I think there’s an argument that Notre-Dame is a tourist attraction, quite separate from its religious function. Also it has acted as a sort of national shrine, e.g. for the funerals of Pierre Trudeau and Maurice Richard, and the marriage of Céline Dion and the funeral of her husband. If we were designing Montreal from a blank slate maybe this would not be so, but as things stand, it’s the most focal of the city’s churches, and the most ornate inside.
Jack, I don’t know what kind of tax, if any, it pays. Churches have mostly been exempt, but Notre-Dame may have to pass over some percentage of its take from tourists – I don’t know, and I don’t know who would know. The Sulpicians may well have insisted that Notre-Dame stay tax-free and gotten away with it.
Ephraim 06:32 on 2020-08-14 Permalink
Kate, religious shrines in other countries, like Paris’ Notre Dame don’t charge an entry fee. At what point is this Madame Tussaud’s rather than a church? And the Catholic church is one of the richest churches, with billions of dollars in the bank. Maybe, we should start asking the question of, is it time we got a share for the money… Or even bought the building and rent it to the church. I mean, if it’s a tourist attraction, we could own it, like a museum. Instead of giving money and letting it flow back to Rome. And if it is Madam Tussaud’s, then it should be losing it’s tax exempt status… I mean, percentage wise, if it’s more tourist attraction than church, it doesn’t have a right to a tax exemption… the airport has a chapel, does it make it exempt?