NDP releases new plan to scrap and replace Tarion

Auditor confirmed Tarion acting in best interests of builders, not families

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling for Tarion to be eliminated and replaced, and for Tarion’s CEO and board to be removed immediately so families finally get the help they’ve been waiting for.

Horwath’s plan is being released just days after a scathing report from the Auditor General painted a picture of an agency working for homebuilders behind the scenes and raking in massive bonuses for executives, all at the expense of families.

“Buying a home is a huge step – often the biggest and most important purchase a family will ever make. But for too many, the dream of home ownership becomes a nightmare when frustrating or even dangerous construction problems show up, and Tarion abandons them — leaving families holding the bag,” said Horwath.

“The Liberals and Conservatives have let Tarion look out for their homebuilder buddies, instead of the families they’re supposed to help. No one at Queen’s Park should be comfortable allowing this rigged system to go on.”

Horwath and NDP Government Services and Consumer Protection critic, Tom Rakocevic (Humber River-Black Creek) will table the Home Warranties to Protect Families Act — creating a new Crown agency, overseeing a multi-provider warranty system and ending Tarion’s monopoly. And while that bill is in the legislature, Horwath is calling on Doug Ford to appoint an administrator to take over Tarion, immediately remove the CEO and board, and help families who have been abandoned by Tarion.

“A home warranty is supposed to protect the people who just laid down their life-savings on a home,” said Horwath. “But the auditor confirmed everything homeowners already knew: Tarion is actually protecting the builders that control it.”

On Oct. 30, the Auditor General released a report on its independent investigation, sparked by a request from the NDP. According to the investigation, Tarion executives have been taking bonuses as high as 60 per cent for making the agency more lucrative – meaning management benefitted personally from turning down claims. The auditor says those claims are often dismissed by leaning on Tarion’s very difficult timelines, including giving new home owners just two 30-day windows to file a claim for anything wrong with their new home.