Tarion announces the end of its in-person Annual Public Meetings http://tinyurl.com/zugazyx In an historic first indeed, the Tarion monopoly communicated May 3, 2016 its retreat from the opportunity to meet new home owners, its forced clients, personally. Admittedly, it would be very inconvenient to have Justice Cunningham witness the fury of new home buyers during the Tarion Review process. Tarion’s release appeared on three financial/investment news sites, CEO.ca, Morningstar.com and YahooFinance on May 3rd, in addition to CNW.ca and Tarion's. Odd placement choices if the intent was to reach a broad audience. There are approximately 60,000 to 120,000 dissatisfied customers annually as identified by Tarion's own surveys. Tarion’s financial statements show that mandatory monopoly “home enrolment” fees of almost $33 million poured into Tarion's coffers last year. Good PR does not include retreating behind an internet meeting in the guise of progress. With the kind of wealth Tarion has accumulated, it should be holding meetings in major centres across the province. That would probably cost less than the gala awards dinner for builders it hosts each year. Luckily for Tarion, it doesn't have shareholders. But in effect, every person who has paid the mandatory monopoly fees for all these years is a kind of shareholder - and we can all demand that the Government of Ontario end this monopoly, restore a competitive market, regulate the building industry and compel municipalities to enforce the building code in the first place, thereby freeing us of the tyranny of the hideous system now in place. Be all that as it may, you can run, but you can't hide. The dissatisfaction of new home buyers, as this organization exercises its monopolistic prerogative in this way, will not be so easily silenced, this being the 21st Century and all. Tarion's announcement speaks clearly and the message is not lost on the many who know them well. It cannot be explained away in a thinly veiled new release. May it be their swan song. Fear is one of those things that people know when they see it. Clearly, the time for this monopoly has passed. It's been a 40-year run and that's enough. Ontario deserves the benefit of a competitive market for new home warranties like BC, Alberta and Manitoba. Justice Cunningham, Premier Wynne, let's get this thing done. #EndTarionMonopolyNOW