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LaSalle Legion Post faces closure over municipal taxes

Click to play video: 'Closure looming over the Canadian Legion in LaSalle'
Closure looming over the Canadian Legion in LaSalle
Fri, Sep 14: The Canadian Legion in LaSalle might have to shut down after it lost its not-for-profit status and was slapped with a $30,000 municipal tax bill. As Global's Billy Shields reports, members hope a social media campaign will help save their post – Sep 14, 2018

Steven Latreille had to dodge gunfire during the Bosnian War.

Like his father, he served in the Canadian Army. But now his Royal Canadian Legion post has a battle of another kind ahead — a battle to stay open.

This Legion post in LaSalle could close before Remembrance Day if something doesn’t change. Billy Shields/Global News

“For me I was devastated,” he said. “This is like my second home.”

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The roots of the legion’s problem stretch back to 2013, when the province stripped it of not-for-profit status.

Under the previous arrangement, the post would have to cover an annual tax bill of about $3,000. Now it has to figure out how to pay off a total bill of $30,000.

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“The provincial government has to recognize their status as a non-profit,” said Sterling Downey, a city councillor who is also a Legion member in Verdun.

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“That’s the issue.”

A spokesperson for the Commission municipale du Quebec told Global News that the agency is reviewing the post’s status, but timing looks crucial.

The city is set to foreclose on the post’s land and building Nov. 4.

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