Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to just state how important this legislation is really in terms of consumer protection. It is quite surprising that some of the provisions being provided in this bill were either not completed or inadequately addressed in the original Condominium Act. In Yellowknife, I have lived here for...This is my 29th year. In the last 15 years or so, lots of condominiums have gone up or existing dwellings or apartment buildings, but they could be just a collection of housing units or mobile homes have condominiumized. There was a lot happening once in the early '90s. I think a lot of people might have fallen through the gap because of the fact that the legislation was not as strong as it should have been. It is unfortunate that, probably, some of them would not be able to take advantage of this legislation because, typically, legislation does not apply retroactively. In that way, I think that it is very important and good that we are able to address this now.
I have also been a condo owner. I was lucky in my ownership to be a member of the Condominium Corporation where the capital reserve issue or some of the responsibilities of the Condominium Corporation as a group were quite sophisticated and were able to take care of things and make sure the money is collected and they budget for it and they do forecasting. I don't think that is the case for all the corporations. Hence, the need for this legislation. Also, I don't think the general population will buy into condominiums. There are lots of condominiums on sale if you go to the real estate market in the city of Yellowknife. I am not sure if the potential buyers of condominiums are aware of what some of the things they should be looking into or even are aware of. One of the kinds of questions that I could ask...I remember when I was selling my condominium, I had a very sophisticated potential buyer who asked for lots of documents, but I don't think that is the case for everyone. You are buying into a percentage of ownership of a corporation when you buy a condominium. It is not just the building and the house that you are buying.
I would like to ask the Minister who would be responsible for implementing this legislation for administrating this legislation. I assume it is the Department of Justice, but consumer protection section is with MACA. There used to be a separate section in the Department of Justice of consumer affairs, but we don't have that anymore. I would like to ask the Minister who would be responsible for this. What kind of efforts will be made to let the people know that these legislative protections do exist not only for potential buyers of existing corporations, but also communities in the North who may be interested in condominiumizing their property? Thank you.