24/01/2022 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 77 published on 01/03/2022
Courts orders that dispute proceed by way of mandatory mediation and arbitration
The condominium corporation brought a Court Application (under Section 134 of the Condominium Act) for compliance against one owner involved in a dispute with another owner. The application was mainly prompted by some nasty verbal exchanges between the two owners.
The Respondent owner applied for a stay of the Court Application, based upon the argument that the dispute was governed by mandatory mediation and arbitration requirements found in Section 132 of the Condominium Act. The Court granted the owner’s application. The Court said that mediation and arbitration are mandatory when the “core issues in the dispute” amount to a disagreement with an owner in relation to provisions of the condominium’s Declaration, By-laws or Rules. The Court said:
In this case, there is no question that the core issues are the disputes under the condominium’s documents. The assertions that ss. 117 and 119 apply are weak and clear efforts to pigeonhole the facts into statutory claims to get out of arbitration.