The provincial Condominium Property Amendment Act, which passed final reading on Dec. 10, should have been re-examined in light of shortfalls, says Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Wildrose MLA Bruce Rowe.
The provincial Condominium Property Amendment Act, which passed final reading on Dec. 10, should have been re-examined in light of shortfalls, says Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Wildrose MLA Bruce Rowe.
His party's Service Alberta critic, Rowe says there were several key areas that should have been revisited before Bill 9 passed.
"We prepared several amendments to the bill dealing with a number of issues, including financial reporting and how boards are drawn up," Rowe told the Gazette.
Bill 9 makes a number of changes to existing legislation, including creating a framework for a new condominium dispute tribunal, developing a framework for qualifications and standards of practice for condominium managers, and improving governance of condominium corporations.
"We recognize that more Albertans than ever are choosing to live and invest in condominiums," said Minister of Service Alberta Stephen Khan. "They told us that our condominium law needed to be upgraded and modernized."
Public and online consultations regarding the legislation were conducted over the past 18 months, with groups providing comments including the Canadian Home Builders' Association and the Alberta Real Estate Association.
MLA Rowe says the consultations were worthwhile, but that the government did not heed the advice it received.
"The government did do quite an extensive consultation through the summer months with stakeholders," said Rowe. "The problem is they did some consulting, got a number of answers back and put the bill together but never did go back to the stakeholder to say, 'Is this what you want? Do we have it all here?'
"Now that is coming back to bite them because they didn't do that and there are still some gaping holes around board consistence and proper financial reporting to the boards and members. There are also gaps in how the developers are handling deposits.
"Bill 9 fails to guarantee the rock-solid protections many condo owners across the province were hoping to see written into law. Albertans deserve to feel secure in the investments in their homes, while being governed by sound regulations to ensure the accountability and profitability of industry."
Wildrose had proposed amendments that would have focused on "insulating owners from paying additional costs incurred by problem owners and giving condo corporations adequate tools to recover costs; limiting the breadth of condo rules so as not to be as all-encompassing as by-laws, or applied without condo owners consent; giving added protection to condo owners after extended construction delays; and ensuring repair and replacement of property maintains fair market value for current owners," he said.
More than 200 people recently attended a Canadian Condominium Institute open house in Edmonton to voice concerns about the new legislation, he said.
Rowe met with Minister Khan earlier this month to outline his concerns with the bill.
In other news, Rowe says the government's recent decision to shelve controversial Bill 10 regarding gay-straight alliances in schools was the right move.
"What a mess they made of that. It went from silly to absurd. It just blew back on them and they look rather silly over it. Where it goes from here, I don't know. It effectively killed the Liberal Bill 202. I think they've got to have a second look at Bill 10 and we'll see what they bring forward then," he said.
Premier Jim Prentice says the province will conduct consultations before considering a reintroduction of Bill 10-type legislation.
"There are still some gaping holes around board consistence and proper financial reporting to the boards and members."Bruce Rowe, MLA
