Islanders worried as Îles-de-la-Madeleine introduces visitor fee

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Tens of thousands of visitors flock to Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine each summer to take in its cliff-framed seascapes and sandy beaches. But starting next month, those stays on the island will have an additional cost.

The small archipelago northeast of Prince Edward Island is introducing a $30 visitor fee to raise funds for tourism infrastructure, environmental protection and waste management. Called Passe Archipel, the new fee will be mandatory for national and international travelers who stay on the islands for more than 24 hours between May 1 and October 14. People who do not comply will risk a $1,000 fine.

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Îles-de-la-Madeleine Mayor Antonin Valiquette says the fee is necessary because tourists are overloading local services and draining existing municipal revenue. The islands have a population of about 13,000, but received about five times as many visitors between May and October 2023, according to the local tourism board.

“If you think that the Madeleine Islands are beautiful, magnificent and that is why you come to see them, then we have to ask you to contribute a little to preserve this quality of life and this quality of tourist destination. Valiquette said in an interview Wednesday.

Valiquette insists the pass is not a barrier to entering or leaving the islands, but the fee nonetheless worries some islanders that it infringes on the freedom of Quebecers and other Canadians to travel within their own country.

“I think it’s outrageous to ask someone to identify themselves in order to leave their own city,” local hotel owner Chanie Thériault said Wednesday.

She was one of several people who expressed opposition to the visitor fee during a tense local government meeting on April 9 during which elected officials approved the bylaws establishing it.

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In an interview, Thériault said he considers the fee especially unfair because it will charge mainland Quebecers to use public resources partially funded by the provincial government, such as roads.

“So we ended up charging Quebecers to visit their own infrastructure, which they pay for with their own taxes,” he said.

Suzie Leblanc, a former councilor for Îles-de-la-Madeleine, said she sympathizes with the municipality’s budget challenges, but is concerned about the implications of the Passe Archipel rules for citizen mobility.

“There really is an obstacle to my freedom of movement,” he said. “This is the first time in my life that this has happened to me and it seems silly to me.”

Valiquette, however, compared the visitor fee to the $50.25 toll car drivers must pay to cross the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and P.E.I. If Confederation Bridge officials were to introduce a toll exemption for Îles-de-la-Madeleine residents transiting P.E.I., he said, “I don’t think there would be many who wouldn’t show their driver’s license, their ID or their voucher of residence instead of paying $50. So exactly the same principle applies here.”

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He argued that the Passe Archipel is less intrusive for islanders than alternative fundraising strategies, such as parking fees at local beaches. And it would be difficult to charge lodging fees, she said, because many of the islands’ tourist accommodations are single-family rentals, not hotels.

The Archipel Pass will be paid through an upcoming online platform and will be certified with a QR code that visitors will receive by email. An official will validate visitors’ codes upon departure by ferry or plane. Island residents are exempt from the Passe Archipel, but will need to present proof of residency when leaving the islands to avoid the fee, which only applies to travelers who are at least 13 years old and is capped at $100. for families of up to two people. adults and five children travel together. There is also an exception for second home owners.

The Passe Archipel is not the first attempt by a Quebec city to pass on infrastructure costs to tourists. Last year, a Quebec Superior Court judge struck down an attempt by the town of Perce, on the Gaspe Peninsula, to have businesses charge visitors an extra dollar on purchases of more than $20, saying the municipality exceeded its powers by forcing local businesses to apply the tariff. Percé has appealed the ruling.

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Dominic Lapointe, a professor of urban studies and tourism at the University of Quebec in Montreal, says popular destinations often struggle with what he called an “imbalance” between tourism and municipal resource capacity. The Passe Archipel model is the first in Quebec, he said, but similar fares exist in other parts of the world. The city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday that charges hikers a five-euro fee.

Lapointe said in an interview that the Îles-de-la-Madeleine fee manages to “save residents while maintaining a very high level of accessibility to public facilities.” Direct fees on local services create “a much greater sense of dispossession for local people,” she said.

Lapointe doubts the island visitor fee will lead to fewer tourists. Michel Bonato, director general of the Îles-de-la-Madeleine tourist office, said his office has not seen a recent drop in bookings.

Thériault is concerned that the Passe Archipel model could spread.

“It sets a dangerous precedent for other municipalities in Quebec,” he said. “So, if it is accepted here, why would each city hesitate to establish the same measures?”

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