Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I asked the Minister of Lands some questions about equity leases, and I would like to follow up more today.
---Laughter
Well, I am just trying to make the Minister of Infrastructure happy here today. Mr. Speaker, my question again is to the Minister of Lands. My first question is: if all equity lease payments are made by lessee under equity leases and the lease is assigned, does the lessee who makes the payments get reimbursed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you. I would like to thank the Member for his question. I would also like to clarify and correct the responses I made yesterday to the questions from the Member for Nahendeh. In my response, I referred to a lease and stated I looked at a lease where there was a partial refunded equity. What I should have said was that I looked at an amendment to lease which contained a clause allowing for a refund of equity in certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions. I have had a chance to look at several documents today dealing with the issue of refund of equity or partial refund of equity, and they deal with the situations where a lease surrendered or cancelled, in one case, or surrendered or terminated.
In situations where there is an assignment of an equity lease, the new lessee takes over the lease, including the amount that's been paid as equity into the lease, and, unless the lease says something to the contrary, there would be no reimbursement to the prior lessee who had made the payments prior to the assignment.
Can the Minister advise us in what circumstances can a partial refund of equity lease payments be made under the equity lease process?
As I mentioned, I do not know if these occur in all equity leases, but I certainly have seen a partial refund of equity in one document and a refund of equity in another. However, that dealt with situations of surrender or termination and dealt with circumstances in which a refund or a partial refund could be made. However, I am informed by my department that they have not come across a situation in Lands/MACA where a full or partial refund has been paid out. The clause may exist. It is subject to many conditions, and, apparently, as I say, they are not aware of any refunds having been paid out in situations where there was termination, surrender, cancellation or assignment. Certainly, there does not appear to be, even though this clause exist, much use of it, and certainly, there would not be and should not be in situations where there is an assignment of the lease.
Yesterday, the Minister talked about new leases or new existing leases or there's no new equity leases. The situation is that, if I bought a car and I sold it to the Minister, he doesn't have to go back and pay the dealership. It doesn't happen that way. I get the money, and then we move on and I get the rights to the vehicle. Again, I'm not talking about new leases. I'm speaking about honouring the equity lease which existed with the original owner. Will the department honour the existing leases to the new owner as they purchased that? That was what they're trying to do. They're trying to enhance their business or home, and that's what they're trying to do.
Of course, if the lease is assigned, it is a contract that is assigned, and the government will honour the terms of that lease. We are, however, not issuing new equity leases.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for allowing us this exchange here today, and I appreciate the information he's providing here. Again, I'm not talking about a new equity lease. I'm talking about an existing equity lease that the person purchased, because right now, as soon as they purchase a lot and it turns over to a lease, there's a whole bunch more rules to it, which puts up blocks for businesses and opportunity for people to build homes, because then there's a clause there that they have to actually pay money to look after it, to remediate it back to its original state. Will the department look at the three decisions that I'm aware of and return them to equity leases until the file is fixed, until equity leases are dealt with? In other words, give the person the opportunity to have an equity lease with these lots?
As I have said, we're not issuing new equity leases, and haven't been doing so for some time. I appreciate, when a new lease is issued, it is not an equity lease, and the parties would be simply bound by the terms of a new lease if a new lease is entered into. As I have said, we are not issuing new equity leases. Thank you.
