Ms. Lisa MacLeod: It's a pleasure to be able to speak to Bill 79 in support of my colleague from Trinity-Spadina, Rosario Marchese. I appreciate the opportunity because he has brought this bill forward a number of times-three, in fact-and he has received, on all those occasions, support from our party, the Progressive Conservative Party, and in particular from our critic for consumer services, Julia Munro.

I'd also like to welcome the people in the gallery today who've taken the time to come to Queen's Park to witness this debate because this issue is important to them and other property owners right across the province. Thank you all very much for coming here. I think you're probably pleasantly surprised to see that all three political parties here today have taken your concerns into consideration. They will be supporting this piece of legislation to see it move forward so that we can best protect your property rights, your pocketbooks and your way of life.

We recognize that many condo owners have concerns about how the current Condominium Act works-or doesn't work. Certainly, in the Progressive Conservative Party, we'd like to see reforms made, and that is why we will be supporting Mr. Marchese's bill.

We'd also like to see reforms that would enhance the rights of property owners. Where I come from, there are not a whole lot of condominiums. I live in a suburban-rural riding, so I probably have a few more farms than I do condominiums. But my husband and I, as we started out on our married life 10 years ago-our first place was a condominium. It can be one of the best things in the world, or it can also be something that's quite difficult. It's always great to have great neighbours, but it's also important to have good property management. I think that's why it's important that this act is passed.

Mr. Marchese has been very upfront that he'd like to rectify a number of challenges that condo owners across Ontario are facing. The first one is clearly some structural problems, like shoddy workmanship. I don't think in this day and age we should be tolerating people doing work and not finishing it. When you're looking at unfinished lobbies, units that are smaller or very different from what the owners thought they were getting or the lack of soundproofing, we think that needs to be rectified. I think this bill is setting out to do that, to give you the protections that you deserve.

It's also very difficult in this day and age when you look at condo owners right now, one of the hardest-hit groups when you think of the HST. Even if you are taking that on yourselves, you're hit with two problems. One is, you're either going to have to fix it yourself and you're paying the HST, or you're going to have to get somebody who is doing it under the table, and you may not get the guarantees; the second thing is, you're paying this increased price because of the HST on many of these issues, and in many of the cases you're finding that some of this work isn't getting done. So it's a very important issue.

The other issue that I think Mr. Marchese wants to correct, and we certainly support, is bad governance, whether that's the misuse of proxy votes, whether that's intimidating owners who try to organize residents or whether that's expensive alterations that are carried out with or without owner approval. The reality is, we need to strengthen and reform board governance. I think that many of the parties here have spoken to that today.

Finally, I think he seeks to alleviate disputes between owners, boards, property management or developers. He really feels, as we all do, that this can only be solved in the courts presently. That's really no way that Ontarians would like to be spending their time and/or their money. I think there's a better way, and for this review mechanism he's certainly setting out to achieve better decision-making, maintenance and interactions.

I'd like to point out that other than those in the gallery today, who have come-I believe they've travelled from either Mississauga or Brampton, Mr. Marchese?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Different places-there are many different stakeholders who have spoken out in support of this type of a bill. I want to preface the condo owners association of Ontario, who we worked with in my office with respect to the HST. They are very much in support of Mr. Marchese's bill. The Canadian Alliance for Condominium Owners' Rights has also spoken out. They state that because of the government's failure or refusal to address the protection interests of condo unit owners, this type of bill is needed. The Condo Information Centre also recognized five sources of problems. One is the lack of government regulation and enforcement over the condo industry in general, and lack of enforcement of the condo act.

1440

You see here that there are people throughout the province who are supportive of this piece of legislation. We have heard from colleagues from all three political parties who are speaking of the need for change and progress. We have heard from those who have taken the time to join us in the gallery today that enough isn't enough. We must continue to make progress, continue to work in the right direction to ensure that there is access to information, access to assistance and access to an appropriate appeal board. That's why we'll certainly continue to support Mr. Marchese's bill, and that is why not only will we vote for it today but we will look forward to this bill coming back to this chamber for third reading and voting for it again then.