Removing
directors “The
sad fact is that, in this town, it’s a whole lot easier to get rid of a
broken blender than it is to recall a rogue politician. And that’s not
right.”
—Rocco Rossi
A requisition to remove all the directors, or even one director, from
the
board of a condo corporation is a very serious matter that should be
taken only if it is believed that serious harm will occur if the
director, or directors, remain in office and all other remedies have
been exhausted.
To force a recall election, the requisitionists require:
1. A total of 15% or more of all owners to sign the requisition.
2. A quorum of 25% of all owners to hold the meeting.
3. A minimum of 50% +1 of all owners eligible to vote to be in favour of
the removal.
This is a high threshold and can be difficult, if not impossible to
meet. In a building where 30-80% of all owners are absentee landlords,
some who do not even live in this country, how can the requistionists
get the needed 50% plus one vote at the special owners meeting?
Lets do the math for a building with 200 units with 40% absentee owners:
Required votes to
remove a director
101
Number of
owner-residents
120
Number of
owner-residents in arrears
002
In this case the requistionists will need almost 90% of the
owner-residents to vote for the removal or the proxies from a large
number of absentee owners.
A requisition to remove a director was deliberately made
difficult to accomplish as non-profit corporations needs stable
governance and recall votes should not be held for frivolous reasons or
just because a losing candidate does not want to wait until the next
AGM.
Grounds
A recall campaign should not be based on unsubstantiated rumours,
gossip or personal issues not related to the condo corporation. It
definitely should not be used as a tool in a power struggle between two
or more factions fighting for control of the board.
Good reasons to remove a director would include obnoxious, callous, sexist, racist and/or
undemocratic behaviours while serving on the board. I would include
abuse of position by using corporation assets for his/her private gain,
falling in arrears on their fees and harassing and abusing residents
that the director took a dislike to.
Violations of the Privacy Act and failing to enforce the condominium
declaration, by-laws and rules may, depending on the seriousness, should
cause a director to be kicked out of office.
The hiring of friends and relatives, failure to disclose conflict or
interests, ignoring serious health and safety issues and refusing to
allow owners to view the corporation's records would also, in my
opinion, be grounds for recall.