Implied vs express consent
We, as individual members of CREA, are traveling down a road that has more than just potholes. It could be said there are hazards a’plenty on this particular road.
This has become all too apparent due to a lack of engagement by the ordinary members of CREA. Our elected representatives appear to operate on the basis that if you don’t voice a negative opinion to the items on the agenda, it is implied that you approve of what is being put forward.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, as evidenced by the vote on setting up a wholly owned company to operate the IT function of CREA. By a vote of 81 per cent to 19 per cent, it was decided to refer it back for additional information to be presented at the Spring AGM in 2013.
Change is necessary and change is good! CREA and our local elected representatives (I don’t know about yours) put forward all of the information, and I readily admit, not many read or watch it. In Nova Scotia recently, a YouTube video that was circulated prior to the vote in Winnipeg was opened 149 times by an agent population of approximately 1,658 agents. I opened it twice as did others, so let me do the math for you: less than nine per cent viewed the video! I cannot quantify the number who did or did not read the 32-page bulletin that was circulated.
Locally, we have been unable to get a quorum at board and regional meetings, and still the comment is, “We provide the information, we can’t make them read it.”
Perhaps a quote from Sir Winston Churchill may be appropriate: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”
Is this an epidemic of apathy by our industry? How long will the implied consent mentality prevail at CREA and across the country at local boards?
Engagement is difficult, communication…or rather, lack thereof, has caused more conflicts and casualties in business and in life than we care to admit, and yet we continue to go down that road.
Perhaps if you don’t participate or attend meetings, you get what you deserve. But is that fair? When the elected representatives appear to be taking the lack of participation and apathy as positive support for their activities, we all suffer from the apathy and ambivalence.
Personally, I don’t want a new company comprised of the same old, same old, with additional expenses and bureaucracy to deliver to us what we have been receiving up to this point. How many more consumer complaints about Realtor.ca do we have to endure, when much smaller companies out-perform from a creative and usability basis? However, when the decision is made, one way or the other, I will have to live by the decision.
“I may not agree with your point of view, but I will defend to the death your right to it.” Noble words, but what if your decision was made by others based on your inaction, or not knowing the issues?
Have you been encouraged or discouraged by your local elected representatives to contact your peers in an attempt to engage them on this issue? Have your elected representatives used the “implied consent” model rather than the “expressed consent” model? Has CREA done the same thing?
I can only hope that the “sleeping giant” we know as you and I, as ordinary members of CREA, wake up!
Make your decision, based on as much information as you can. Push your elected representatives for accountability on how they voted, and how they will vote next time, and make sure they represent you and your opinion.
Engage your peers to get involved. The correct decision will be made, if we are engaged in the process.
Regardless of what is decided, I can rest easy knowing that if we, as a group, make an informed decision, I will have no issue with “defending” that decision…will you?
David A. Yetman
Brokerowner
Real Estate Navigator
Century 21 All Points
Halifax
