The Cote des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grace borough council wants the provincial government to re-examine how much money the MUHC will be making from its parking lot at the Glen Site.

Council approved a motion at Monday's meeting asking Quebec City to re-examine why the McGill University Health Centre must turn a profit from its eight-storey parking lot.

"We also have to see that parking is an essential part of providing health services," said Perez. "It's a reality and to the extent that it cost money and they should try and cover their costs but they shouldn't try and make money."

Parking at the hospital costs $25 for any visit longer than 90 minutes, and is expected to generate anywhere from $14 million to $20 million per year.

There is little other parking in the area and the closest metro station is about 1 km away on foot, although that distance will decrease once a tunnel is built. The STM has also implemented a new bus service running from Lionel-Groulx metro for people who cannot use stairs.

The MUHC has defended the parking fees pointing out that Montreal's General Hospital will soon charge the same amount, while the Jewish General Hospital charges $21/day.

The hospital authorities say the provincial government paid for the lot, but only on the condition that parking was self-financing.

Perez still feels the price is excessive and not as clear as it could be.

"The policy doesn't require any kind of transparency. The financial reports of many of the hospitals and their foundations don't indicate how much is generated in revenue from the hospitals and how much it costs," said Perez.

Other borough councillors, including Peter McQueen, said higher parking fees act as a barrier to accessing health care and will result in patients looking for parking spots on surrounding streets.

"If the cost is too high then people try to park on my residents' streets which causes conflict with the residents. So it seems to me a little high and I agree with the motion," said McQueen.

Last week Health Minister Gaetan Barrette said he approved of the fees that hospitals were charging for parking.