#63812
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    Any owner can stand-in for a committee member at a committee meeting, no form required, just a request in writing

    However, the sub’s presence can’t be counted in terms of the quorum (50 percent of the committee’s numbers) and has to be approved at the start of the meeting by a majority of committee members present.

    I don’t know where you got the attached passage which seems to imply that the committee MUST approve the substitute. This is what section 34 of the Act says:

    A member of a strata committee may, with the consent of the strata committee,
    appoint an owner or company nominee of a corporation that is an owner who is
    eligible to be a member to act in his or her place as a member at any meeting of the
    strata committee.

    I’m not seeing anything there that says the committee must approve an eligible substitution. I can think of many situations where the majority of committee members might validly not wish to approve the substitution.

    Scenario 1:  The committee has (say) seven members and only three attend the meeting but one of the three has a request in writing to be a stand-in for a missing member. In this case, the meeting can’t continue in any official capacity (they can still discuss issues but any vote doesn’t count).  The substitution has to be approved by the committee before it can be counted.

    Scenario 2: The same committee has four members turn up – more than 50 per cent, so it is quorate – but two or three of them decline to approve the substitution, which the chair must call for at the start of the meeting.  The meeting continues but there is no extra vote for the absent member.

    Scenario 3: The committee is quorate and the substitution is approved by the other committee members.  The committee meeting continues with the sub’s vote being counted.

    Hope this helps.

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
    • This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by .