Oka gas station to fight for revoked tax exemption

The owner of the Belisle Gas Station in Oka that was forced by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to stop accepting tax exemption cards from Kanehsata’kehró:non on July 1 will take the matter to court.

Sales have plummeted at the Belisle gas station after July 1, said store owner Chris Xenakis. The Indigenous community makes up nearly 80 per cent of his clientele, but since last week the business has only seen less than 10 Indigenous customers, most of whom have turned away after learning they could no longer have the tax exemption. This past weekend, he profited less than $400.

“If this business is worth $1, now it’s worth 10 cents,” said Xenakis.

“I’ve been supported by the Native community. Without the Native community, I am nothing.”

Xenakis said he has spent just under $40,000 in legal fees so far to not only save his business from closure, but to ensure the government honours tax exemption for Kanehsata’kehró:non on Kanesatake settlement land and does not rescind tax exemption from other businesses in Oka.

“But at the end of the day, I’m willing to lose everything I have,” said Xenakis.

“If I leave here, then it’s going to give an initiative of the government, just keep marching in, marching in, marching in, and if this doesn’t get switched, this will always be done.”

Some community members have come out to offer their support, even buying gasoline and some products since July 1.

“It definitely had an impact on myself, on my family. We travel often for lacrosse and for work, and this is our go-to seven days a week,” said David Rice, who travels between Kahnawake and Kanesatake, and says he’s been a customer of the gas station for around a decade.

“I’ve been a regular here, and I’ve become friends with Chris, and it’s unfortunate that he has to go for this.”

In January, Xenakis was informed this year that the address where his station is on, 1345 Chem. d’Oka, Oka, QC J0N 1E0, would no longer be able to offer tax exemption for Kanehsata’kehró:non by the CRA.

Federal law under the Indians and Bands on certain Indian Settlements Remission Order (SI/92-102) allows Kanesatake band members to receive equal tax treatment to status First Nations people living on a reserve.

Under this law, Kanesatake band members are entitled to remission of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Kanesatake settlement land.

The federal government identifies Kanesatake’s settlement land online as “25 km northwest of Montreal, on the north side of Des Deux Montagnes Lake, and, for the purposes of this Order, comprises the Village of Oka and the areas in the western portion of the Parish of Oka, known as Côte Sainte-Philomène, Côte Saint-Jean, Côte Saint-Ambroise and Côte Sainte-Germaine-Côte-Sud.”

In 2015, the CRA found the address in Oka that includes the Belisle Gas Station was located within the geographic boundaries of the remission order for Kanesatake band members, according to Revenu Quebec.

However, the CRA conducted a new analysis in 2023 at the request of Revenu Quebec “following contradictory responses received from the CRA regarding the geographical limits of application of the Decree,” according to an email statement from Revenu Quebec.

The new analysis found that the address containing the Belisle gas station in Oka was outside of the Kanesatake land settlement.

In 2023, the CRA informed the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) of their decision, and former chief Serge Otsi Simon, former chief Valerie Bonspille and former grand chief Victor Bonspille communicated with the agency, The Pines Reporter has learned.

During a meeting in 2023, the MCK asked the CRA for flexibility in administering the remission order in Kanesatake. This year in January, the CRA followed up on these discussions with the MCK.

The CRA informed the council they would not change their decision, according to Simon, who said the CRA told council their analysis shows the Belisle gas station in Oka falls outside the bounds of the Kanesatake land settlement.

“The CRA was like - in very informal terms - ‘we’re not going to offer any flexibility. We need to go by the letter of law. We will stick to the map that we have,’” said Simon.

The MCK requested documents with which the CRA made its decision and only received them after the MCK law firm sent a letter to the CRA last month.

But it was too late to analyze the findings before the gas station’s tax exemption was revoked on July 1.

Xenakis said he would never have gone through with the acquisition of the gas station in 2024 if he knew the tax exemption for the community of Kanesatake was in jeopardy.

According to Revenu Quebec, the CRA’s “decision applies to a single address.”

The CRA did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

Caretaker council member Brant Etienne said the council wrote a letter of support to Xenakis. But the council is still considering whether they will take legal action on this issue, and if so, what kind of legal action, said Etienne. One of the considerations is making a title claim on a much larger span of land.

“Do something where we do like a short-term piecemeal fix for now,” said Etienne. “Or do we maybe try to solve the whole thing? Because it’s a question about our land base and our unceded lands, and that’s where we’re at.”

[email protected]

Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter