The Role of the Chair

A recent Court decision has confirmed the important role played by the Chair at a meeting of condominium owners.

In the case of Davis v. Peel Condominium Corporation No. 22 (June 7, 2013), a meeting of owners had been held to consider removal of the Board.  At the meeting, the Chair was required to consider whether or not certain proxy votes should be excluded pursuant to Section 49 of the Condominium Act on the grounds that the owners (who signed the proxies) were at least thirty days in arrears (and therefore were not entitled to vote at the meeting).

The Chair determined that the owners in question were not in arrears, and therefore accepted the proxy votes. The removal vote was held, and the Board was removed. One of the owners then applied to Court for an order declaring the vote invalid on the grounds that the Chair had improperly accepted certain proxy votes.

The Court said that the Chair had acted properly, and upheld the vote. The key aspects of the Court’s decision were as follows:

• The Court confirmed that it is the role of the Chair, at least at first instance, to determine an owner’s right to vote.
• The Court found that the Chair might have erred in relation to three of the proxy votes. In other words, the Court found that perhaps three proxy votes should have been excluded, but since the three votes did not in any event influence the result, the Court declined to overturn the vote.