11/10/2022 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 80 published on 01/12/2022
The CAT orders condominium corporation to prepare and produce minutes
The condominium corporation had failed to produce minutes of a Board Meeting which had been requested by the Applicant, because the solicitor who chaired the meeting and had agreed to prepare minutes of the meeting had failed to prepare the minutes.
The Tribunal held that the solicitor’s failure to prepare the minutes was not a reasonable excuse for the condominium corporation’s failure to prepare and produce the minutes. The Tribunal said:
This is not a case like some others that have been before this Tribunal in which minutes or other records of a condominium are missing because a prior manager has retained and not returned them, or they have otherwise been lost to time, circumstances, or memory. In this case, the Respondent’s board was aware of its obligation to have minutes of the meeting, knew that it did not have them, and simply did not ensure they were made.
The evidence before me indicates that multiple individuals who were members of the board at the time of the Pre-AGM Meeting and were at the meeting, including the current president of the Respondent, have clear and consistent memories of what occurred at the meeting. In fact, the evidence indicates that both parties possess a consistent account of the key elements required for the production of adequate meeting minutes: when the meeting occurred; who attended the meeting; the business that was discussed at the meeting; and the outcome of the discussion. It is not reasonable to believe that the Respondent could not produce the minutes without waiting and relying on the solicitor to do so, nor is it reasonable that it has not already done so.
In some cases, the Tribunal has found that the non-existence of a record was not a justifiable excuse for not providing it, particularly in cases where the corporation has failed to keep records that a condominium is required to keep under the Act. Such failure may be determined to be an effective refusal. This is such a case. Accordingly, I find that there has been an effective refusal by the Respondent to provide the minutes of the Pre-AGM Meeting.
The Tribunal also ordered the condominium corporation to pay a penalty of $300 to the Applicant.