EDITOR'S LETTER
The people issue
Publisher Mitchell Saltzman Editor Michelle Ervin Advertising Sales Sean Foley, Stephanie Philbin, Daniel Ross
When Britain shocked the world by voting
in favour of exiting the European Union, aka Brexit, one of the immediate narratives to emerge was how older, rural citizens had foisted upon younger urbanites a future they didn’t want. Without giving away my personal politics, which I shelve in my professional life in the name of dispassionate reporting, it hit close to home for me. As a millennial, I have grumbled about decisions made by politicians decades my senior, who will be long gone as I continue to pay for said projects via tax dollars for years to come. But that’s how democracy works, isn’t it? A fellow millennial friend pointed out the obvious dangers of toying with the equation of one (equally weighted) vote per person. Condominium corporations face similarly diverse populations that can divide over a range of fault lines — old versus young, singletons versus families, end user versus investor. And sources of conflict only become more fraught, because not only are corporations government-like, but unit owners have a more direct and greater stake in their condo board’s decisions. This month’s cover story looks at what happens when communities devolve into dysfunction. In particular, it breaks down the path into, out of and through court-appointed administration, which, I learned, was a mechanism incorporated into the 1998 iteration of the Condominium Act. Also on the topic of different condominium constituencies, you will find a feature written by my colleague Barb Carss about the challenges of managing properties that are home to growing populations of elderly residents who live on their own. Plus, lawyer Deborah Howden highlights how the transgender bathroom debate in the U.S. has long been settled in Ontario, and what obligations condominium corporations have under the human rights code. The fact that people are now protected from discrimination based on gender expression and identity offers a reminder that public policy changes gradually, eventually reflecting changing attitudes. And different generations often have more in common than they recognize — after all, this recent addition to the human rights code merely builds on legislation first introduced in the early 1960s.
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