Canadian resident Ethan Macleod was Christmas shopping in Gatineau, Quebec. He was more than 500 kilometres from his home in the Cree Nation of Mistissini and he was hoping to find good holiday deals.But he discovered that not all stores honoured the Indian Act tax exemptions for Indigenous shoppers.Under section 87 of the Indian Act, Indigenous people who hold Indian status cards qualify for some tax exemptions, meaning GST/HST and PST generally do not apply to goods bought on a reserve or delivered to a reserve by the vendor. Some provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, provide limited off-reserve relief, but policies vary, reports CBC News. MacLeod said some Quebec stores go further and offer in-store exemptions for other First Nations members. However, at Simon’s, a Canadian-owned store, he was told the taxes could not be removed. “They told me, if I want to use my status card, I have to get it shipped to my community, and on top of it, I’m going to be paying those shipping fees,” he said. However, Japanese-owned Uniqlo accepted his Indian status card without issue. “Why are we getting more respect from outside, international companies compared to our own country?” he asked.MacLeod said he avoids stores that do not honour exemptions, while Melissa Ratte, a consumer protection officer for the Cree Nation government, explained the confusion is partly legal. “The law from the Indian Act and the federal law, unfortunately that is a big misunderstanding with Cree shoppers,” she said. Only the Kanien’kehà:ka people from Kahnawà:ke have a special agreement allowing point-of-sale GST removal in Quebec.Angela Ottereyes is a Cree parent and student in Montreal who has faced similar frustrations. “It’s kind of embarrassing sometimes. I’ve had instances where it was accepted before and now they’re not,” she said.Ratte hopes Quebec will adopt policies similar to Ontario’s. “There’s so much that our government can do in terms of changing policies. Maybe they could try to bring it here in Quebec, like what Ontario did,” she said.For Macleod, tax exemptions are part of respecting Indigenous rights. “You’re Indigenous, you’re in your homeland. You should be proud to get that tax exemption,” he said.
