City council has instructed staff to investigate the possibility of granting Maison Vale Inco hospice a temporary property tax exemption following a plea from hospice representatives Léo Therrien and Gerry Lougheed Jr.
The two appeared before council Sept. 15 to ask that $25,594 in back property taxes be temporarily exempted, as the hospice could not afford to pay them.
They asked for the exemption with the condition it be granted only if the hospice agreed to speak to the province about the possibility of earning a permanent property tax exemption. According to Lougheed, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci has arranged for a meeting with the province's finance minister, Dwight Duncan, to discuss the matter.
City council was unanimous in their praise for the hospice, which provides a place for people in the Greater Sudbury and Manitoulin Islands area to go to die in comfort, with dignity and respect.
The 10-bed bilingual hospice is manned by nursing staff and a fleet of volunteers who donate about $80,000 in volunteer hours per year. The hospice is run on money donated and fundraised through the year.
Ward 7 Coun. Russ Thompson asked if it was necessary to have staff generate a report when he and "everyone around the table" knew they would vote in favour of the exemption, but the request for a report was upheld.
