Mr. Speaker, the Centre-ville organization, which includes the Edmundston Central Business Development Corporation, is a non-profit organization that oversees the economic development of downtown Edmundston. Its budget is wholly funded by a voluntary tax on the owners of commercial buildings located in the business improvement area.
The federal government refused to pay this property tax on the buildings it owns in downtown Edmundston and elsewhere in New Brunswick.
As citizens, we pay taxes to the federal government. Why does the government not want to pay its taxes?