When the provincial government reviewed the Strata Property Act last fall, it was expected that the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association would be part of that study.

A few months earlier, the Victoria-based group had released a comprehensive report outlining several key legislative-reform areas related to condominium homeownership.

So when the review was about to get under way, the association received an invitation from the Ministry of Finance. But the group declined as a “matter of principle”, according to VISOA director Deryk Norton.

Three association directors, including Norton, were asked to comment on recommendations the ministry was developing, but on the condition that they sign a confidentiality agreement. They refused.

Norton explained in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight that he has no problem when the government demands confidentiality on certain occasions, such as budget lockups. In these cases, reporters and commentators are given briefings in advance of the official announcement of the budget.

“But to apply that to a developing legislation that affects so many people as the entry-level point for having any conversation on issues and alternatives seems to be quite inappropriate,” he said.

There are about 460,000 strata-housing units across the province. Comprising 25 percent of taxable properties, according to VISOA figures, these are owned by some 600,000 British Columbians, or roughly 15 percent of the population.

The confidentiality agreement sent to the association specified that a participant can neither reveal the existence of such a review nor discuss materials disclosed in the evaluation, except to ministry officials and those who have signed similar deals.

When Finance Minister Colin Hansen introduced Bill 12 for first reading in the legislative assembly last month, he stated that the changes included in the measure were the “result of consultations with key stakeholders, including condominium associations, strata managers, developers and lawyers”.

Bill 12, or the Strata Property Amendment Act, 2009, focused on streamlining resolution processes for strata property disputes. One provision allows the small claims court to decide legal cases that are currently heard only by the B.C. Supreme Court.

Introduced on March 23 of this year and read for a second time on March 31—the day the B.C. Liberal government shut down the legislative assembly—Bill 12 died on the order paper.

Hansen said during the last session of the legislative assembly that the Liberals will reintroduce the bill if they win another majority in this year’s election.

Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Vancouver-based Condominium Home Owners’ Association, didn’t have a problem with signing a confidentiality agreement when he participated in the review. However, he stressed to the Straight that his organization also wants to see open consultations if the bill is reintroduced after the May 12 provincial election.

“I still think what we need to have is a very thoughtful public-consultation process, and our association would still very much like to see that,” Gioventu said by phone. “It’s complicated legislation.”

Realtor John Grasty suggested that Bill 12 is a token gesture to show that the B.C. Liberals did something for condo owners before the election.

“They really didn’t care about the public,” Grasty, president of the Consumer Advocacy and Support for Homeowners Society, told the Straight. “There was some input from the public, but I think that’s basically been discarded.”

The VISOA’s Norton is the editor of www.bcstratachanges.ca/, a new Web site that deals with legislative issues concerning strata properties. The site contends that legislative changes should cover not only the Strata Property Act but also the Real Estate Marketing Act, which governs developers, and the Real Estate Services Act, which applies to strata management companies.

The site guides condominium homeowners in making their concerns known to politicians running in the May 12 provincial election. It can likewise be used, according to Norton, by the approximately 80 percent of strata councils in the province that are not affiliated with associations like VISOA.