PRESIDENT, BC NOTARIES ASSOCIATION

Daniel Boisvert

Moving Forward with the BC Notaries Association

The past few months have been busy as we continue to move toward the official operating launch of the BC Notaries Association.

We have been promoting our profession and working on the 2019 Spring Conference. Jacqui Mendes and her team have been meeting with various organizations such as British Columbia Real Estate Association and Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association–BC, among other key partner associations.

Part of the work to get the Association organized is to participate in strategic planning. The Executive Team got together to look at the landscape and determine our strengths and weaknesses as well as identify near-term opportunities and threats. We looked at what The Society has done in the past and what we believe we can do to enhance our successes in the future. It was a very productive oneday session with some solid outcomes.

Our membership continues to grow as more that 230 Notaries from around BC have submitted applications to become members of the BC Notaries Association. I would encourage Notaries who have yet to submit their application form to do so now. If you need another application form, please contact me directly; I will get one to you right away. a daniel@deltanotary.ca

The membership is free. Please take the time to submit the application.

We will continue to work to get the Association up and running. Soon we will be looking to our members to join committees and expand the Board of Directors.

Our membership continues to grow as more that 230 Notaries from around BC have submitted applications to become members of the BC Notaries Association. I would encourage Notaries who have yet to submit their application form to do so now.

Meeting with Government BC Notaries Society President Rhoda Witherly and I attended a meeting with the Ministry of Finance where we were given the opportunity to present to the select Standing Committee regarding two areas where we want to see action from Government. • The first was to obtain an exception under the Mortgage

Brokers Act that would mirror the exception the Law Society has. • The second was to support our requests for expanded scope of practice for BC Notaries.

Our message was well received by the MLAs. The exemption is important because it codifies our ability, through the Mortgage Brokers Act, to give mortgage advice— something the Courts already expect BC Notaries to do. Housing Concerns National Housing Day was November 22. CEO Jacqui Mendes and I attended the BC Housing Conference and heard a lot about the Government’s plans to help make housing more affordable in BC. The Premier was on hand, along with Minister of Housing Selina Robinson, to kick off the conference and share their vision of a BC that is much more affordable for the average person.

The recent BC Notaries Association press releases were picked up by many news outlets. We were invited to speak live on CKNW to share our thoughts regarding high-priced homes, including nonfamily co-ownership as a possible solution for the Greater Vancouver market. We discussed the value of having co-ownership agreements that outline such things as how to take title (in terms of tenancy), cost-sharing, and exit strategies to the agreement.

Over the next few months, you can expect the advocacy to continue while we also finalize the details of the 2019 Spring Conference. I look forward to seeing everyone there, April 12 and 13, at the River Rock Hotel in Richmond. s