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Mr. Speaker,
I know we're here at third reading on this bill and it has fairly
wide support among the condominium owners because they do believe that
it does address governance issues that we talked about here on second
reading at some length.
I just wanted to reiterate some of the shortcomings of the bill, and I
will be brief. I know the ministers have heard at length some of my
other concerns but, in brief, the bill does not go into the issues that
are of greatest concern to the owners of condominiums and that had been
the consumer protection side to ensure that when you buy a new
condominium, you can be assured that there are warranties in place and
that there are protections and provisions in place to ensure that the
building was properly built, that it will not be suffering any major
structural problems in the first short while that you're living there
and, therefore, the owners will not be called upon to make some
significant costly repairs that we have seen in metro and, in fact, in
other places, as well, in the province.
I mentioned the other day that we're up over 300 condominiums now in
this province. A lot of them have been registered just in the last few
years and for that reason we've begun to see more problems with either
the speed of the construction, the lack of inspections, perhaps the
shortage of skilled labour that's causing it. Mr. Speaker, we're
concerned about
that and we're looking for the government to bring forth some other
amendments to Acts or new Acts that might address that.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, there is the issue - and I didn't mention this in
my first speaking at second reading - around dispute resolution, which
is covered in the bill as it is, but I just wanted to signal that there
is a demand to see an ombudsman position that both the condominium
owners and the condominium boards could turn to in times when there are
disputes.
Mr. Speaker, I realize we're at third reading and that the other
provisions in this bill are welcome. I said they address some
irritations and some more pronounced difficulties that boards have in
their governance. It allows them to now charge some fines if they have
owners who do not comply. But there has been a request from condominium
owners that we look more seriously at creating an ombudsman position
where disputes could, perhaps, be resolved very quickly with one person
being able to act as a hearing, or a clearing house, for those issues.
So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I do realize we're here at third reading and
I'm happy to see the bill come forward, but I'm hoping that we can see
some amendments in the future.
Thank you.
MS. DIANA WHALEN:
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