Dear Tony: Our strata council has engaged in some bizarre activities lately in how it holds council meetings and reports decisions to the owners.
Our bylaws have an unusual condition that relates to in-camera minutes. The bylaw stipulates that in-camera minutes are recorded and kept in a secret place unless there is a court order for their release.
Doesn’t this set our strata corporation up for a significant amount of conflict or expose it to potential lawsuits? Our owners are beginning to question whether our strata council is holding secret files on each owner, as some recent information has been disclosed about past owners that was not included in the minutes.
Martin C., Victoria
Your strata corporation and owners have two separate issues. The first is whether in-camera meetings result in minutes and how those minutes would be stored or accessed. The second is the collection of personal information and how that is managed and whether a person is entitled to their personal information.
Under the Strata Property Act Schedule of Standard Bylaws, there are several references to the minutes of council meetings, but no direct acknowledgment of in-camera proceedings or how they are conducted.
Remember, these are the standard bylaws that apply to every strata corporation, unless they have been amended.
Council meetings are convened in person or by electronic means, provided everyone is capable of communicating. A common example is a conference call or Skype meeting.
Owners are entitled to attend as observers, unless the meeting is a hearing or matter relating to a bylaw contravention or other matters that could unreasonably interfere with an individual’s privacy. The results of votes at a council meeting must be recorded in the minutes.
The absence of observers indicates a strata council is having an “in-camera” session to protect personal information. “In-camera” implies the session is off the record, with no observers, and limited to the attendees decided by council. When a strata council determines it’s time to move in-camera, the minutes of the meeting show the time and possibly the reason.
The in-camera session is convened, council discusses the matter, then council exits the in-camera session. For example, “The council moved in-camera at 8:45 p.m. to address a bylaw complaint hearing requested by an owner. At 9:15 p.m., the in-camera meeting was terminated.
“The council has determined that strata lot 18 was in breach of the bylaws and has imposed a fine of $200.”
The risk with bylaws that attempt to protect minutes of in-camera meetings is they might not comply with the provisions requiring disclosure of information under section 35 of the act. A bylaw cannot limit access to those minutes that is required by a court order, an arbitrator or the Civil Resolution Tribunal.
In addition, the bylaw has now indicated that council is recording minutes and gathering information about owners, tenants or occupants, which they are holding in secret. Under the Personal information Protection Act, if an organization collects information about a person, that person is entitled to access that personal information.
If your strata council has collected or retained information relating to an owner, tenant or occupant, regardless of your bylaws, you must provide the collected information to that person on their request. That would include information relating to that person in any minutes of the strata corporation.
This is one of the reasons why strata corporations are required to establish a privacy policy and appoint a privacy officer.
Strata corporations often confuse minutes and decisions with information provided by owners to assist the council with decision making. Your strata corporation might be required to collect information from an owner regarding a financial hardship or medical condition requiring accommodation.
Discussing the content of this information at an in-camera meeting does not require minutes; however, the documents can provide the council with the information necessary to defend their decisions if challenged.
Don’t be the council that abuses in-camera minutes to hide business from your owners. Protect privacy, discuss matters in-camera, and record your decisions in the council minutes accessible to everyone.
Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association
