Tarion to create new ombudsman position to handle customer complaints

Tarion, the province's new home warranty program, is creating a new post to deal with customer complaints: Home Buyer Ombuds- person.

"We certainly came to the conclusion that Tarion has to be more open to consumers and has to have someone for them to reach out to," said Tarion's president and CEO Howard Bogach.

Tarion is an independent corporation that administers Ontario's New Home Warranty Plan, which offers protection to new homebuyers who pay a fee.

Bogach, who was appointed by the Tarion board earlier this year, has made it clear he was hired to make the program more open and accountable to warranty holders.

In an interview with the Toronto Star just after his appointment, Bogach said he was considering bringing in an ombudsperson to broker homeowner complaints.

"It is an opportunity for consumers to have a second avenue of assistance," Bogach said in an interview this week.

The ombudsperson will not only mediate homeowner's complaints, but will be asked to suggest any changes in policy or practice that may be needed, Bogach said.

News of the job posting comes just weeks after a stinging 16-page report from provincial Ombudsperson André Marin.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Marin said the public sees Tarion as a "puppet" of the home building industry and that it is a "chronic underperformer.

...When Marin issued his report last month, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and Minister Ted McMeekin were responsible for Tarion. Oversight for Tarion has now been shifted to the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services under Minister Jim Watson.

In his report, Marin said consumers are confused about just how Tarion and the province interact and called on the ministry to "clarify" its role in Tarion's affairs.

"I have concluded that the ministry's failure to clearly set out the nature of its role with respect to new home ownership needs to be remedied immediately," Marin said in his report.

There were 52,332 new homes enrolled in the warranty program in 2007, with some $9 million paid out under the plan. As of last year, a total of 465,116 homes were under warranty.

With files from The Canadian Press

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PMI Canada calls for review of CMHC

PMI Mortgage Insurance Company Canada (PMI Canada) says it would like to see the government examine how competition could be increased in the Canadian mortgage insurance market and consider how Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s mortgage insurance business could be restructured “to best ensure an active and competitive mortgage insurance market”.

The company says it commends the Competition Policy Panel for its recent recommendations for instituting regulatory reforms, increased transparency, and reduction of overlap and duplication in the regulatory arena.

“PMI Canada has advocated for a consistent and transparent system of regulatory review,” says Janet Martin, CEO, PMI Canada, in a news release. “We are encouraged by the panel’s recommendations that a more broad system of regulatory reform be undertaken with the goal of maintaining and increasing competition within the marketplace.”

In January, PMI Canada submitted its recommendations to the panel that called for separating CMHC’s various businesses, including mortgage insurance, into separate entities, privatizing CMHC’s mortgage insurance business, and recommending a public mandate review of CMHC.

“Implementation of the proposed recommendations would help to increase long overdue mortgage insurance competition, resulting in more choice for Canadians looking to achieve the dream of home ownership,” says Martin.

"Establishing a level playing field in Canada will benefit not only potential home buyers but lenders as well, the company says. “Fostering increased mortgage insurance competition will allow PMI Canada to bring innovative risk solutions to lenders that will assist them with their business strategies, particularly when it comes to market expansion and risk mitigation,” says the company. “Most financial Crown corporations are required to have public mandate reviews every 10 years; however, no independent mandate review of CMHC has been conducted for more than 20 years.”

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New PERKS- Client Appreciation Program

Here we grow again! I'm happy to announce my new PERKS- Client Appreciation Program, a complimentary service that I'll be providing to my valued clients.

This program features a whole range of informational booklets and brochures, a referral business directory of professional trades and services, an annual home evaluation, and a whole host of other helpful information sent out on a monthly basis.

Here at the Dream Home System, we're constantly looking for ways to improve our services. I invite you to visit my website to learn more about the PERKS- Client Appreciation Program.

Also, check out our online referral business directory. My clients, friends, family members or I have used many of these businesses personally, and believe that they can provide you with the quality services that you deserve.


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Ontario, Ottawa to spend billions on infrastructure

KAREN HOWLETT

Globe and Mail

The federal government announced Thursday that it has inked a deal with Ontario to spend $9.3-billion over seven years in the province on public transit, roads and bridges as part of its plan to maintain and expand the country's infrastructure systems.

The Ontario government has signed on to Ottawa's infrastructure plan, called Building Canada, which will see the Harper government spend $33-billion over seven years on projects across the country.

“That is a historic commitment,” Lawrence Cannon, Federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, said at a news conference in London, Ont. “Substantial infrastructure funding was long overdue in this country.”

Mr. Cannon said Ontario will receive $6.2-billion from the federal government, including $3.1-billion from the Building Canada fund itself, to help the province repair its aging roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The Ontario government will match the Building Canada funding, raising the total investment to about $9.3-billion.

Ontario's share of the overall federal infrastructure pie will total $7.8-billion, including $4.4-billion from the gas tax. The funding arrangement will run until 2014.

Initial priorities include improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway in northwestern Ontario, rural broadband coverage in southern and eastern Ontario and rapid transit in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region.

Ontario is the latest province to reach a so-called framework agreement with Ottawa, which will set out how it will use its share of the funding.

British Columbia was the first province to reach an accord last November. Only three provinces – Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec – have yet to sign deals.

“This deal has been a long time coming, and it further represents a product of long and detailed discussions with our federal counterparts,” said George Smitherman, Ontario Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal and Energy. “Today, we are celebrating the coming together of two levels of government to produce results for the people of Ontario.”

Mr. Smitherman was also on hand at the news conference, along with Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his provincial counterpart, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

It was the first time Mr. Flaherty has shared the stage with Mr. Duncan since the federal minister began waging a highly public fight with the McGuinty government earlier this year over its management of the Ontario economy.

Mr. Smitherman announced that the province will use $50-million of the federal funding to build a new reservoir and pumping station in London that will provide surrounding communities with a stable supply of clean drinking water. The province is kicking in $50-million for the project.

However, Mr. Smitherman said it will take a little while longer for the province to sign a framework agreement with the federal government for the multimillion-dollar plan to extend the Spadina subway line into the Toronto area's rapidly growing York Region. Ottawa's $697-million contribution to the long-awaited subway extension will come from the Building Canada fund.

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory applauded his federal cousins today for helping Ontario improve its infrastructure. But he criticized Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty for taking so long, compared with many other provinces, to reach a deal with the federal government that will allow the province to get access to the funding and get the projects under way.

“I would rather see Mr. McGuinty spending his time and his energy getting an agreement like that as opposed to launching broadsides at the federal government,” he said. “So far, he seems more interested in the broadsides.”

With a file by The Canadian Press

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