Coming to terms with councillors who violate strata act

Would the threat of a fine for strata councillors who wilfully contravene the Strata Property Act be a good thing or not?

That’s a question I’ve been mulling since touching on it in my last column. At first, I thought the idea of fining councillors was a little draconian. After all, even if they know that what they’re doing is contrary to the law, they’re volunteers.

But then I remembered the numerous emails I’ve received over the last couple of years from strata owners, including this one from Colleen Walker, who served on her council for three terms and grew completely disillusioned: ” – There needs to be a list of penalties for being in contravention of the act and a body to which to report such contraventions,” she wrote. “We need to establish some ‘strata police’ -. Can you imagine if there were no penalties for disobeying the Motor Vehicle Act? The streets would be chaos!”

More recently, I received the results of a survey conducted by the editor of the Strata Advocate website. In September, Deryk Norton asked 1,100 people from across B.C. who had visited his website about their experience with strata living.

The result that particularly caught my interest was this: When asked what might be an important way to improve strata legislation, 67 per cent of respondents (almost 400 people responded) selected the option “punish those who knowingly violate the Strata Property Act.” This received more support than any other choice, even edging out “strengthen licensing and discipline for strata managers.”

For his part, Norton likes the idea of strata councillors being punished with fines if they knowingly break the Strata Property Act, and asks in an email: “Why did the [recent] government survey [on dispute resolution] not ask the opinion of strata owners on the matter of fines for strata council members?”

A government official told me earlier fines could make it harder to recruit council members, and that in Ontario and Alberta, where fines are possible, they’re “seldom, if ever, imposed.”

But as Norton points out, “this may speak to the effectiveness of such provisions as a deterrent to dishonest conduct.” In Alberta, a condo board member can be fined between $200 and $5,000. In Ontario, violations of certain sections of the Condominium Act – such as failing to keep adequate records – can invite a fine of up to $25,000 for a councillor.

Finally, I talked to Mike Mangan, lawyer and author of The Condominium Manual, to see what he thinks about fines.

“It sounds really good, but the practical reality is, that for various reasons, it’s not very workable. Police would have to take a report, it would have to go to Crown counsel, they would have to assess the likelihood of a conviction and whether it’s in the public interest to prosecute.”

With court services stretched thin in this province, Mangan doesn’t think there would be any appetite for prosecuting strata councillors who violate the Strata Property Act, even if such a provision was added to the act. (Of course, strata councillors who commit criminal acts – fraud, for instance – can be prosecuted.)

For strata owners suffering under a strata council that’s breaking the Strata Property Act, there are still two remedies: A political one (petition for a special meeting and pass an appropriate resolution) and a legal one (by taking strata councillors to court at your own time and expense).

– A few columns ago, I wrote about typical monthly strata fees and one of the people interviewed said they do not include heat. Gerry Fanaken, from Vancouver Condominium Services, says that’s not always true: In older strata with central boiler systems and newer highrise strata with steam, heat is a common expense and therefore shared by owners through strata fees.