Bill 8 Regulations
Will Strata Owners Be Consulted ?
On October 6, 2009 the government passed Bill 8* (The Strata Property Amendment Act, 2009). Bill 8 was based on private and “confidential” communication by the government with a select few in the real estate industry. The government has made the astonishing claim that such communication constitutes public consultation even though strata owners were shut out of it. The government issued no invitation for public input, no discussion paper was circulated for public feedback and no public meetings were held with strata owners. It was as if strata owners are mere “subjects” and only their “overlords” in the real estate industry are worthy of government attention. The government even voted down an Opposition motion to delay passage of Bill 8 for 6 months to enable public consultation to take place. Predictably, the effect of all of this can be found in the Bill’s total silence on the crying need to hold strata developers, strata property management companies and others accountable for their abuse of strata owners’ rights
Implementation of Bill 8 requires development of regulations including regulations for new requirements for depreciation reports and financial audits. Bill 8 also requires new regulations for mediation and arbitration of disputes. The government has hinted that it may implement a public consultation process for developing these regulations. If this occurs we hope it has the objective of producing regulations that address the concerns and property rights of strata owners rather than the business interests of strata developers and strata managers. Unfortunately, the government’s track record is one of not listening to the concerns of strata owners. Government appears to be dismissing strata owners as mere “subjects” unworthy of any attention.
Strata owners must continue to make the case to government that they are not mere “subjects” but property owners and citizens who have a right to be heard.
