Part 40 published on 01/11/12
Court provides direction respecting election
In accordance with a previous Court order, the owners had voted by referendum to proceed with election of a new Board of Directors (rather than to continue the management of the corporation by an administrator). [See Condo Cases Across Canada Part 35, September 2011.]
Pursuant to Section 131 of the Condominium Act, 1998, the administrator applied for the Court’s direction in relation to the anticipated election. The Court agreed that it could properly provide such direction under Section 131. The Court’s direction included the following:
- There were five Directors to be elected for terms of one, one, two, two and three years. The Court held that the resident-elected Director (under Section 51(6) of the Condominium Act, 1998) should be elected for the 3-year term. The Court said: “It seems to me that an owner-occupier has a more direct interest in the affairs of the condominium than an owner who has rented out his or her unit. Therefore, the one position to be elected under Section 51(6) of the Act by only the owner-occupiers shall be elected for three years.”
- “In my view, there should be one meeting of the owners to elect a new Board of Directors. The first vote is to be by the owner-occupiers to elect a director for a three-year term. Any owner-occupier who has unsuccessfully run for the three-year term is entitled to run for the remaining four positions. A second vote is to be held to elect directors to the remaining four positions. The two owners receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected to two year terms and the two owners receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected to one year terms.”
- “One owner asked that all candidates must give prior notice of an intention to be a candidate and that there be no nominations from the floor. I see no basis for making such an order.”
- “One owner asked that each candidate be provided with complete mailing and e-mail addresses, fax numbers and phone numbers of all unit holders. I raised privacy concerns which the owner acknowledged may be an issue. Section 28(2) of the Act provides that the names and addresses of persons who have indicated they wish to be a candidate for the board of directors is to be provided in the notice of meeting. In my view, this guidance should be used and no unit owner’s information need be provided by the Administrator other than required by Section 28(2) for an owner who has notified the Administrator of an intention to be a candidate for the board of directors.”
[Editorial Note: I simply note that the director elected by the owner-occupiers pursuant to Section 51(6) of the Act does not have to be an owner-occupier (unless the by-laws contain this added qualification).]