This is odd... I'm in Montreal and didn't get charged import fees on either Renai sample or Punikano, and the latter just arrived last week.
The info Freaky linked to says that items under 20
Canadian dollars should be import tax free, at least at the federal level, but also specifically says books don't qualify for that exemption. So according to that we should all be getting charged an import tax...
Could it also be that you were charged
BC's PST (+ a handling fee)?
Interestingly, it says
here that:
Foreign-registered publishers outside Canada are allowed to pre-collect the GST on printed matter only, such as books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals.
but that probably wouldn't be a good idea, considering that apparently only some of us are getting noticed and taxed. Probably better to keep it that way.