Among those taking part in the OREA PAC were, from left: Durham Region Association of Realtors president Dierdre Mullen; Debbie Dawson, chair of the DRAR Political Affairs Committee; Wayne Arthurs, MPP for Pickering-Scarborough East; Ann Briscoe, past DRAR president and TREB director; and Cail Maclean, DRAR EO

Realtors from across Ontario attended the annual Political Affairs Conference of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) recently.

In meetings with MPPs, Realtors lobbied to allow real estate salespeople to incorporate. This is not currently allowed under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act (REBBA), 2002.

“Allowing real estate salespeople to incorporate is ultimately about fairness,” says OREA in a news release, stating it “would align their rights with other regulated professions, lower taxes on Ontario businesses and help members of the real estate profession cope with the introduction of the HST.

“Allowing personal real estate corporations will not affect consumer protection and has limited implications for provincial revenue,” says OREA.

Realtors also discussed a proposal to create a new property assessment class for brownfields under remediation. It says this new assessment class would reduce the financial burden of redevelopment on brownfield property owners by applying a lower property tax rate to brownfields under remediation.

Conference keynote speakers included Tim Hudak, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Andrea Horwath, leader of the New Democratic Party of Ontario and John Gerretsen, Minister of Consumer Services responsible for REBBA, 2002.

OREA has about 49,000 members.