In a recent article in Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, they candidly discuss self-regulation (and the problems incurred) with such agencies in Canada – this would include the BCSC.
We will cut and paste of portion of the article and highlight some very important sections. The article states inter alia…
“The Real Estate Services Act gave the Real Estate Council the mandate to “uphold and protect the public interest in relation to the conduct and integrity of its licensees.” But the real estate profession is not the only profession that was given the right to self-regulate its members.
In B.C. alone, foresters, lawyers, architects, land surveyors, engineers, social workers, chiropractors, dentists, nurses, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, doctors, psychologists, veterinarians, notaries and other professions have governing bodies established by legislation that are required to license their members, regulate their professions and exercise their powers in the public interest, rather than in the specific interest of their members.
But what is the public interest? In short, it’s putting the interest of the public ahead of the specific interest of the people and the profession being regulated. By virtue of the practices described in the independent report on B.C.’s real estate industry, the public interest was not being protected by the council, despite the group’s legal obligation to do so. The government rightly acted to restore public confidence in an industry where there was a loss of public trust.
“The real estate sector has had 10 years to get it right on self-regulation and they haven’t,” Ms. Clark said. “The point of regulation is to protect people, to protect consumers.”
This action may be a shot across the bow for other regulatory bodies in Canada that are charged with the licensing and regulation of their professions, as well as disciplining their members when there is misconduct. Every self-regulated profession needs to keep in mind that the public interest must be given paramount attention. Otherwise, they risk the same fate as the Real Estate Council of B.C.” -END OF ARTICLE-
We find Christy Clark’s comments very profound (highlighted above) – we wonder if we can hold her to these words – “THE POINT OF REGULATION IS TO PROTECT PEOPLE, TO PROTECT CONSUMERS”.
We agree Christy – we agree!!