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Dear Strata Councils,

It has been an eventful few days with important developments in the fight against COVID-19.  We hope this message finds you safe and sound in this challenging summer season, which has seen multiple crises facing British Columbians and others around the world.

We understand that you all will have many questions about the new announcements from the Province, and would like to offer the following regarding the latest announcements:

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On Tuesday July 20^th, the Province of British Columbia declared a state of emergency to allocate additional resources in the fight against wildfires.  This is the third such state of emergency in the last 6 years, a truly unprecedented phenomenon.

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With heavy hearts, we have followed the news out of Surfside Florida after a condominium building partially collapsed, leading to many deaths.

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Dear Strata Councils,

We are now into Phase 2 of the Province’s Restart Plan.  We know that you are as excited as we are to see friends, family and to re-engage in activities we have all missed.  We’d like to help support your efforts by providing the latest updates we have on various matters impacting your Strata Corporation:

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Dear Strata Councils,

It has been a while since our last update as there have been few policy developments with respect to COVID-19 for a number of months. However, with reopening on the horizon (the Province is set to announce a Reopening Plan today, May 25) we wanted to update you on some of the changes to expect in the weeks and months to come, along with other important recommendations relating to COVID-19.

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Stratawest Management is a proud member of the Strata Property Agents of BC (SPABC) and the Professional Association of Managing Agents (PAMA) with principals of the company sitting on both Boards for nearly 10 years, volunteering time and energy to better our industry and improve the quality of strata management in the Province. From time to time, the Board of SPABC requests our colleagues on the legal side of the strata industry to dive deeper into specific topics and give broader context and opinion to topics such as recent Court decisions, issues in the media and matters addressed by the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT). We are pleased to provide access here to an article from Lisa Mackie of Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on Shen v. The Owners, Strata Plan EPS3177, 2020 BCCRT 1157 in regards to the use of Restricted Proxies at General Meetings.

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Dear Strata Councils,

As we post our 19^th Covid-19 update there are many reasons for wider optimism regarding the pandemic and we are all thrilled for some better news coming in. That said, there are obviously still reasons to be concerned about the next few months and beyond.  Delays with vaccine delivery, variants and more suggest that we will need to continue to remain vigilant and cautious as we move through 2021. Business as usual, it seems, is still not yet close to reality.

With that in mind, we’d like to update you and provide some suggestions on the following items relating to COVID-19 and it’s impact on our operations and your Strata Corporation:

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Done for another year! The results are in and they are… pretty incredible.

Lots of toys and gift certificates delivered to the North Shore Christmas Bureau last week, a truck load of new bikes picked up by our good buddy James at Obsession Bikes & Bikes for Tykes and, wait for it… $16,250 raised so far on behalf of Harvest Project to give a whole bunch of families a better Christmas and huge hand up this year. Unbelievable!

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Dear Strata Councils,

This week was very challenging for many of you, with rising case numbers of COVID-19, increased isolation and the turning of the weather.  You are no doubt weary of Strata Corporation matters being placed before you.

However, we are compelled to write to you with important information about the anticipated Order from the Provincial Health Officer.  On November 19^th, Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix held a press conference and announced a new order mandating that masks be worn by all capable individuals in all indoor public spaces.  A day later, the Province formally confirmed that Strata common areas such as hallways, lobbies and elevators are subject to the Order.  We have drafted the attached generic notices which you may use in your properties to advise Residents of the new Order.  Many of you had already passed Rules which require guests, trades people and others to wear masks- this new mandate applies to everyone.

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Recently, we wrote about the Shen decision which is causing a fair bit of consternation for Owners and Councils at Strata Corporations.  As we indicated in our post, we believe that meetings held in person to comply with the Strata Property Act and encouraging Owners to submit proxies (restricted or otherwise) to reduce the number of attendees as much as possible, were unlikely to be overturned.  Of course, we are not a substitute for legal advice and many lawyers within the Strata community have begun to weigh in on the conversation.

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