Richmond man who fought Mandarin-only meetings moves away
Vancouver Sun
Matt Robinson
03 July 2017

Andreas Kargut is leading a class-action Human Rights Tribunal claim against his strata council, which he claims has discriminated against non-Mandarin speaking homeowners. Dec. 2015.

A Richmond man who took his fight over Mandarin-only strata meetings at his townhouse complex to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has moved away from the city with his family.

Andreas Kargut and six other residents filed a class-action complaint because they couldn’t participate in a Mandarin-only meeting in the 54-unit complex. They claimed they were being discriminated against by the strata council.

After the parties reached a pre-settlement last year, things appeared as though they would work out, and a handful of meetings were held in English with a Mandarin translator.

But then a resolution that would have ensured every meeting would have an accredited interpreter was voted down by strata members.

Now, Kargut and the other parties to his complaint are waiting for a decision as to whether they can proceed to a hearing at the human rights tribunal over the matter.

In the meantime, Kargut has had enough and on Canada Day, he and his family moved to Vernon in the North Okanagan.

“The human rights case is the greatest contributor to us leaving,” Kargut said. “With all of the discrimination that was happening (it) ruined my good name in Richmond. There was accusations of me being a liar, a crook and a racist.”

Kargut ruled out a move within Richmond because he could not afford a larger place and would have lost money in commissions, taxes and legal and transfer fees had he moved into a place of similar size. A downsize was off the table at this stage in life, he said.

Kargut would like to see the Strata Property Act amended to state that English, as an official language, must be used — rather than denied — at strata council meetings.

Mary Zhang, president of the strata council at the time of the failed resolution vote, previously told Postmedia News that most owners in the complex speak Mandarin as a first language.

She said members supported using a translator when non-Mandarin speakers were present at meetings, but opposed using one when all in attendance spoke Mandarin.

Kargut said Liberal MLA Linda Reid had helped Kargut in his battle when he reached out to her, but said local politicians did not help him.

The mayor and councillors in Richmond did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked whether he would consider purchasing in a strata complex again, he said he would, but only to buy a rental property.

“Mark my words, I will never live in a strata again,” Kargut said.

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Man fighting strata over Mandarin-only council meetings moves out of Richmond
Global News
By Jon Azpiri and John Hua   

A man who filed a human rights complaint after the strata council at his Richmond condominium complex conducted meetings only in Mandarin, has moved his family out of Metro Vancouver.

“We had actually wanted to stay in that townhouse until the kids were gone and we retired, but things just kept on escalating and getting worse,” Andreas Kargut said Tuesday.

Kargut and his wife had lived at Wellington Court since it was built in 2004. He was part of a group of condo owners in Richmond who were angry that strata meetings were being conducted entirely in Mandarin.

The group won the right to take their case to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, and the strata appeared willing to compromise.

Still, Kargut said he felt he was being marginalized and it was best to move his family to Vernon, B.C.

“Whenever our kids would go outside, their kids would all go inside,” he said. “About two minutes after our kids would go inside, their kids would go outside and play.”

Kargut’s former neighbour, Alex Tan, said he was sad to see a young family feel that they were pushed out of their community.

“Normally, in summertime they will be running around the complex, playing games and stuff like that,” he said. “But now, we don’t hear.”

Wilson Jin, the new strata council president, said changes were made to council procedure last year.

“We set up this new bylaw that at every council meeting, if somebody wants to attend the council meeting and he can’t speak Chinese, we speak English,” he said.

Tan said council’s efforts at inclusion “seemed to have gone away” and they appear to be “imposing their own rules.”

he’ll keep fighting until his human rights case is heard

Now, 500 kilometres away from his old home, Kargut said he’ll keep fighting until his human rights case is heard.

“It’s a class-action complaint and we want to set a precedent,” he said.


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