Human rights complaint about Mandarin-only strata meetings settled out of court
CBC News
17 October 2018

Nearly three years after it was filed, a homeowner's human rights complaint about language used at his former condo building's strata meetings has been settled.

It marks the end of the dispute between Andreas Kargut and the Wellington Court strata council, which began when the council switched to Mandarin-only meetings.

In his initial complaint in 2015, Kargut said Mandarin-only meetings left English-speaking owners out of strata discussions. He also said it was a constitutional issue because Canada's official languages are English and French.

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal agreed to hear the dispute and hearings had been set for later this year.

Both languages to be used
Kargut withdrew his complaint after reaching a "compromise agreement" with the council, according to a statement from his lawyer on Wednesday.

Details of the agreement aren't being released.

Rose Knight, Kargut's lawyer, said the strata now requires annual and special meetings to be held in both English and Mandarin. Council meetings are to be held in both languages if requested.

Agendas and meeting minutes are either in English or in both languages.

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