Clause-by-clause consideration
of Bill 106
19 November 2015

On 19 November 2015, The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs met for the second day to continue the debate on a clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 106 prior to the third reading in the legislature.

The committee consists of eight MPPs, five Liberals, two Progressive Conservatives and one NDP.

The committee was debating amendments to Schedule 2, the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015

Mr. Jagmeet Singh (NDP): I move that section 3 of schedule 2 to the bill be amended by adding the following subsection:

Compliance with operating principle
“(2.1) The administrative agreement shall require the administrative authority to comply with the principle of promoting the protection of the public interest.”

Mr. Jagmeet Singh (NDP): This would be to ensure that in general, the operating principle, the guiding principle, for condominium management should be the protection of public interest. We’ve seen that without this express operating principle, there have been problems in other organizations. Tarion doesn’t have a guiding principle which clearly elucidates that its principles are to protect the consumer, and absent that, we’ve seen a lot of complaints around Tarion. So to avoid that problem happening here, ensure that as this condominium management authority is set up, it should be set up with that principle put foremost so that all of the decisions that are made and the direction that it takes should always comply with this principle of promoting the protection of public interest.

Mr. Chris Ballard (Lib): I can recommend voting for the motion as drafted, because I think it addresses the concern that we had with the original motion, which talked about protection of owners. It broadens it and speaks about the protection of all impacted parties. I like that concept of public interest, and I think, for that reason alone, we can support this.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): Seeing no further debate or comment, shall amendment 98.1 be carried? All those in favour? Opposed? That carries.


Mr. Jagmeet Singh:
Motion 100: I move that the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015, as set out in schedule 2 to the bill, be amended by adding the following section:

Oversight by Ombudsman
5.1 The Ombudsman appointed under the Ombudsman Act shall oversee the administrative authority and accordingly,

(a)	the Ombudsman is deemed to have all the powers necessary for the exercise of the oversight functions; and
(b)	the administrative authority shall co-operate with the Ombudsman fully in the exercise of his or her oversight functions.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): For the committee members, good morning. I’m going to rule the amendment out of order. In my opinion, it is beyond the scope of the bill.

Mr. Jagmeet Singh:
I move that the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015, as set out in schedule 2 to the bill, be amended by adding the following section:

Oversight by Integrity Commissioner
5.2 The Integrity Commissioner appointed under the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994 shall oversee the administrative authority and accordingly,

(a)	the Integrity Commissioner deemed to have all the powers necessary for the exercise of the oversight functions; and
(b)	(b) the administrative authority shall co-operate with the Integrity Commissioner fully in the exercise of the oversight functions.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Okay, similar to my ruling earlier, in my opinion the motion is beyond the scope of the bill, so I will be ruling it out of order.

Mr. Chris Ballard (Lib): I move that section 14 of schedule 2 to the bill be amended by adding the following subsections:

Access to compensation information
“(2) The administrative authority shall make available to the public the prescribed information relating to the compensation for members of its board of directors or officers or employees of the authority and relating to any other payments that it makes or is required to make to them, and shall do so in the prescribed manner.

Processes and procedures
“(3) The administrative authority shall follow the prescribed processes and procedures with respect to providing access to the public to records of the authority and with respect to managing personal information contained in those records.”

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any questions or comments to motion 106? Mr. Barrett.

Mr. Toby Barrett (PC): We support this amendment. It is important to let people know how much people are making.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any other comments? I’m going to call the question. All those in favour of motion 106? We are unanimous. Thank you.

Mr. Toby Barrett: I move that schedule 2 to the bill be amended by adding the following section:

Administrative authority is an institution
“16.2 The administrative authority is an institution for the purposes of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.”

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): No, no, I’m going to be ruling this motion out of order. There will be no discussion.

Mr. Toby Barrett (PC): I move that schedule 2 to the bill be amended by adding the following section:

Prohibition re: proxy instruments
52.1 A licensee, or any person acting on behalf of a licensee, shall not solicit an instrument appointing a proxy for a meeting of owners where the subject matter of the meeting includes,

(a)	any matter directly related to the licensee;
(b	the removal or the election of one or more of the directors of the client; or
(c)	any other prescribed matter.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Mr. Ballard?

Mr. Chris Ballard (Lib): I would obviously recommend voting for this. It addresses concerns that have been raised involving condo managers having unfair influence on subjects in which they have a vested interest as well.

I acknowledge that we worked with the opposition and legislative counsel to determine wording that is specific and only prevents managers from soliciting proxies in these specific cases.

I think it allows for more flexibility so that certain condo corporations can continue to rely on condo managers to perform certain administrative functions where reviewing or collecting proxies may be necessary.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Ms. Fife?

Ms. Catherine Fife (NDP): We’ll be supporting this as well. We heard very clearly from delegations that this was a concern. We feel strongly that managers should not be involving themselves with proxies.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any other comments to motion 115.1? Seeing none, I’m going to call the question. All those in favour of motion 115.1? All those opposed? Carried.

Mr. Jim McDonell (PC): I move that section 67 of schedule 2 to the bill be amended by adding the following subsection:

“(5) A person or entity that is convicted of an offence under this act is not eligible, for a period of 10 years from the date of conviction, to hold a position on the condominium corporation’s board of directors.”

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Ms. Fife.

Ms. Catherine Fife: We’ll be supporting this. This just makes sense.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any other comments? Ms. Vernile.

Ms. Daiene Vernile (Lib): I’m going to suggest that this motion is likely out of order because director qualifications are subject to the Condominium Act and not the Condominium Management Services Act. We’re going to be voting against this.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Ms. Fife.

Ms. Catherine Fife (NDP): I would say that it’s not out of order. This is an opportunity to modernize the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015, and to amend other acts with respect to condominiums, so this is the opportunity to actually make legislation stronger. That’s why we’re here.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Mr. McDonell.

Mr. Jim McDonell (PC): We just think that we did a lot of consultation and we heard from people. There’s that stigma, if nothing else, about the condominium board not looking after or being there for the owners of the units. If you’ve get somebody who’s in contravention of the law, why should he be back in the same place where he broke the law, basically?

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any other comments, questions?

Ms. Daiene Vernile (Lib): Again the concern is, if this motion were to include minor contraventions, it could be very potentially punitive.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong): Any other comments before I call the question? So I’m going to call the question to motion 118. All those in favour of motion 118? All those opposed to motion 118? The motion is defeated.

Ms. Catherine Fife (NDP): It’s interesting that the government just voted and said that condo managers who are convicted of a criminal offence can then serve on a condo board. We heard through delegations that condo boards have an immense amount of power over the tenants. I guess this is another one of those contradictions that we’re seeing throughout this process.

The Chair (Ms. Soo Wong)
Shall the title of the bill be carried? All those in favour? Opposed? Carried.

Shall Bill 106, as amended, be carried? All those in favour? Opposed? Carried.

Shall I report the bill, as amended, to the House? All those in favour? Opposed? Carried.

At 10:10 am, sixty-five minutes later, the committee was done with Bill 106.


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