News on the condo open houses: CBC condo article; UPDATED Improvement Ideas. PLEASE READ!!!

Hello everyone This newsletter covers THREE (3) IMPORTANT topics: the Service Alberta condo open house format. the CBC article stating Ontario has already updated their recently proclaimed condo legislation to “target boards and directors”. impressive Condo Tribunal information from Shannon Salter, Chair, BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. We attended the first Service Alberta Condo Legislation Open House in Red Deer last night. It became apparent that planning to stay for the entire open house hours is not of value. For all forthcoming sessions, we will be there from 4 until 6PM so please seek us out if you are attending. Here’s what to expect at these open houses. There are posters that describe a situation that links to each of the topics Service Alberta wants to address. Those topics are: Voting Procedures and General Meetings; Condominium Documents; Financial Considerations; Rules, Rental Deposits and Termination; Insurance Requirements; Reserve Funds; Dispute Resolution. You will read the condo situation; consider the Service Alberta solutions; indicate your most preferred Service Alberta solution and/or the least preferred solution. If you have other ideas on the situation, you can write them out on a flip chart. There is no opportunity for public questions/answers or group discussions. This process takes time. You might want to consider giving your feedback in one of the four following ways. **First:** Follow the Service Alberta process as described above. **Second:** Give thought to what you want addressed in the above topics. Write out your ideas before you go so you can quickly record your opinion. You can record your ideas publicly OR you can write your concerns out on forms provided by Service Alberta. **Third:** Print a copy of our UPDATED “Improvement Ideas” (reflecting the addition of condo board training/Code of Conduct/Ethics and the Dispute Tribunal) and give this UPDATED as of Wednesday, July 26, 2017 document to a Service Alberta representative. Ask them to include this document in their feedback. **Fourth:** If you can’t attend the meeting, copy the following information into an email and send it to Premier Notley, Minister Stephanie McLean, Deputy Minister David Morhart, Assistant Deputy Minister (Consumers) Colin Lloyd, your MLA and me. State: “I support the Improvement Ideas identified in the UPDATED as of Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Alberta Condo Act Team “Improvement Ideas’. This updated version was sent to you on the above date by Dr. June Donaldson and it is available on the website www.albertacondominiums.ca”. Please ensure my comments are included in the condo open house feedback.” Remember, if you have better ideas than are outlined in our "Improvement Ideas", document them and send your thoughts to the above individuals. Next, the link below references a CBC article of July 25, 2017, indicating Ontario is already updating their recently proclaimed condo legislation to address loopholes. It’s interesting to see topics they are addressing are similar to what we have been asking our Government to do for years. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/condo-laws-ontario-1.4220207 Last, of critical importance is the proposed Alberta Condo Dispute Tribunal. Forthcoming legislation must be comprehensive to address as many condo conflict topics as possible. Otherwise, the Tribunal staff will **NOT** have the authority to address your conflict. Why? Because there is nothing in the legislation upon which they can base a judgement or decision. That is why we MUST ensure forthcoming legislation addresses topics that we, as condo owners, KNOW cause: conflict, broken relationship, plummeting property values, stressful condo ownership and living, and financial ruin. Those topics are outlined in our UPDATED "Improvement Ideas" of July 26, 2017. We have heard that Service Alberta is considering adapting the Residential Tenancy Dispute Tribunal model to fit our condo situations. That idea is skimming the surface of what needs to be done and putting a band aid on a major wound. WE CANNOT LET THAT HAPPEN. British Columbia, after years of development launched, in 2012, their Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, (CRT). In July, 2016, the CRT started accepting condominium disputes. In June, 2017 they expanded their service to include small claims. The Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) is a 24/7 on-line service. A major component of their offering, that results in disputes being resolved early, is their “Solution Explorer”. This tool enables disputants to resolve their issue to where many don’t have to access the Tribunal. Disputants not only learn how to navigate potential future conflicts, but they also become aware of legislation that controls their condominium ownership. The BC CRT is a practical, proven and affordable conflict resolution remedy. It is an efficient, less stressful process, and it has quickly gained international recognition and attention. Yesterday, I received the following email from Chair Shannon Salter: “We have been consulted by governments and courts in Australia, Utah, England, Ireland, Singapore, and Ontario among others. Good luck with your interview! Shannon Shannon Salter Chair, Civil Resolution Tribunal http://www.civilresolutionbc.ca Please support our efforts to have Service Alberta adopt, in full, the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. Why spend taxpayer money and more Government time and resources to recreate the wheel when BC has accomplished what they have? We must end up with a Tribunal that has scope, depth and teeth and by all indications, BC has what we need. That’s it for now. Thank you again for your support. If you haven’t signed our petition to have us involved in the evolution of forthcoming legislation, here’s the link: https://www.change.org/p/include-dr-june-donaldson-alberta-condo-owner-advocate-and-other-non-conflicted-ordinary-everyday-condo-owners-in-condo-act-bill-9-governance-and-dispute-resolution-regulation-development As well, if you haven’t donated to our mission, please consider a donation of $10.00, or more if you can swing it, to help us cover our basic administrative, website, and operating costs. Remember, no one gets paid and when we are successful any money left over will be split 50/50 with the Veteran’s Food Bank and the Alberta SPCA. Here's that link: https://www.gofundme.com/albertacondoactteam To be continued … and if you have comments/questions, please send them to mailto:info@albertacondominiums.ca June Donaldson (MBA, EdD, Mediator, Arbitrator, Founder of the Alberta Condo Act Team) My website disclaimer at www.albertacondominiums.ca applies to this email and all my condo related work.