Mortgage Broker is the magazine of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association and showcases the multi-billion dollar mortgage-broking industry to all levels of government, associated organizations and other interested individuals.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/254794
MortgageBroker mbabc.ca winter 2014 | 9 report from the CEO THE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN DEMANDING MORTGAGE BROKER ASSOCIATIONS COLLABORATE – at least that was the scuttlebutt circulating in the lounge at Toronto's Intercontinental Hotel in November last year. As many members will know, the hotel hosted an unprecedented meeting of directors from four associations, MBABC, AMBA, IMBA and CAAMP to discuss how the associations might work more closely together, possibly in a unified structure. It was an unprecedented meeting – not for the magnitude and significance of the subject matter under discussion, but for the fact that it took place without association staff present. I believe this was an effort to stimulate the free flow of discussion, unadulterated by potential staff self-interest or bias. For the record, I can say the MBABC supports a national-provincial structure along the lines of the real estate organizations, the BCREA and CREA. e provincial body of our sister real estate association performs tasks at a local level, including processing memberships, resolving disputes between members, providing continuing education and engaging in advocacy and political action relating to provincial issues, while the federal real estate body represents the industry nationally and promotes a national agenda. ere is only one membership fee, with fees being collected at the local level and then apportioned to the national body. is association model acknowledges the important role played by industry organizations at the provincial or local level. Aer all, professional regulation and licensing is a matter of provincial jurisdiction. e British North America Act of 1867 (now called the Constitution Act, 1867) provides the provincial legislatures with jurisdiction over matters related to property and civil rights, and civil rights powers have been broadly interpreted to provide the provinces with authority over professional trades and consumer protection issues. Mortgage broker regulation is therefore a provincial matter by virtue of the provinces' power to regulate matters relating to property and civil rights within their provincial borders. Quebec's current threat to challenge Ottawa's new proposal for a national securities regulator reminds us that in Canada we live in a federation of provinces. Ottawa's hands are tied – it cannot force provinces to divest their jurisdiction over securities regulation. Its' solution to this problem is to create a cooperative securities regulator within which provinces may voluntarily opt to participate. Strong, assertive provincial industry associations are therefore vitally necessary. Only a local organization can develop and maintain a grassroots connection to individual industry members, and become an expert not only in provincial regulation and law, but also in knowing who the administrative and political players are in their respective provinces. On a personal note, I have been with the MBABC for just more than one year, and I have noticed we routinely receive several enquiries each day from our members looking for answers to issues relating to our provincial legislation, such as how the legislative $75 cap on lender fees for mortgage discharges can be applied, or which rules need to be followed to kick off a new syndicated mortgage lending entity. ese are provincial matters, over which we as a provincial association possess some valuable expertise. We are also there on the provincial lobby front. For example, we have recently asked the Minister for Core Review to consider a proposal for the B.C. mortgage broker industry to self-regulate – you will see this subject addressed in this edition of Mortgage Broker (see page 17). A single national-provincial association structure would, in the view of the MBABC, represent an efficient, cohesive and practical realignment of association resources for the betterment of the mortgage broker industry. However, for a national-provincial structure to succeed we must recognize and separate the discrete programs to be delivered by the various associations at different levels. e MBABC Board of Directors has voted unanimously to participate in a facilitated meeting of all of the associations to explore what a collaborative association structure would look like. We will see how this process evolves! n 2014 The Year of Collaboration! Samantha Gale CEO MBABC & MBIBC samanthagale@mbabc.ca This association model acknowledges the important role played by industry organizations at the provincial or local level. p08,09_Message from CEO.indd 9 14-01-27 11:37 AM