Earlier this week, RAHB President Jack Loft, CEO George O’Neill, Government Relations (GR) Chair Nic von Bredow, GR Vice-Chair Margaret Reid, and GR Staff Liaison Wendy Stewart attended the Ontario REALTOR® Party Conference in Toronto.
The delegates enjoyed talks/presentations from:
- Nik Nanos, who spoke on a snapshot of the numbers for Ontario and Canadian Politics
- David McNaughton, Ambassador of Canada to the United States
- Three Doug Ford insiders: Melissa Lantsman (Hill & Knowlton), Michael Coates (Rubicon Strategies) and Mike Diamond (Upstream Strategies).
- Queen’s Park Media Panel: Marieke Walsh (iPolitics), Robert Benzie (Toronto Star) and Alan Carter (Global News)
- A political pundits panel: Warren Kinsella (Daisy Consulting Group), Kathleen Monk (Earnscliffe Strategy Group) and Char Rogers (Chestview Strategy)
- The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier and Leader of the PC Party
- Andrea Horwath, Leader of the NDP
- John Fraser, Interim Leader of the Liberal Party
- Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
- A panel of new MPPs: Stan Cho (Willowdale), Bhutila Karpoche (Parkdale- High Park) and Stephen Lecce (King-Vaughan)
- The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister
The conference also included meetings with MPPs to talk about the issues:
Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (REBBA) Reform for:
- Enforcement
- Better consumer protection
- Cutting real estate red tape
Tax Fairness for real estate professionals because:
- The current system is unfair to REALTORS®
- There is a need to cut additional red tape
- There will be minimal revenue implications
- It strengthens consumer protection
Delegates from RAHB met with:
– Paul Miller, MPP for Hamilton East – Stoney Creek
– Effie Triantafilopoulos, MPP for Oakville North – Burlington
– Monique Taylor, MPP for Hamilton Mountain
– Jane McKenna, MPP for Burlington