Karen Somerville, PhD
President, Canadians for Properly Built Homes

Dr. Karen Somerville co-founded Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH) with her husband, Alan Greenberg, in June 2004.  Victims of having purchased a seriously and fundamentally flawed new home in Ottawa (in excess of 50 Ontario Building Code violations), they quickly realized the need for much greater consumer protection relating to new home purchases.  In speaking with other new home owners across Canada, and in the United States, they discovered that many other new home owners were facing similar problems.  This is why they founded CPBH.

Karen is a university professor, teaching business courses including organizational behaviour, change management, and strategic management.  She also has an active academic research agenda.  She earned her Ph.D. in Management at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University in Ottawa.  She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Certified General Accountant’s (CGA) designation.  Since 1992, she has been the Managing Partner of Performance Plus Group, a management consulting company specializing in strategic management and change management.  Prior to that, she held senior management positions in both the public and private sectors. 

In addition, Karen is an active volunteer, and has participated on Boards of Directors of many charitable and not for profit organizations, including Vice President of the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton, Vice-President of International Social Services Canada, President of the Ottawa Chapter of The Strategic Leadership Forum, Cabinet member of the United Way-Centraide of Ottawa-Carleton, and President of the Central Park Community Association, the community association of a large, new housing development in Ottawa.

Alan Greenberg, Secretary-Treasurer,
Canadians for Properly Built Homes

Alan Greenberg co-founded Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH) with his wife, Karen Somerville, in June 2004. Victims of having purchased a seriously and fundamentally flawed new home in Ottawa, they quickly realized the need for much greater consumer protection relating to new home purchases. In speaking with other new home owners across Canada, and in the United States, they discovered that many other new home owners were facing similar problems, which is why they founded CPBH.

Alan has worked in the high technology sector for more than 35 years, holding positions with a number of large corporations including Digital Equipment Corporation, and Computing Devices Canada. For the past 15 years, he has been a Senior Account Manager with Sun Microsystems, a global computer company headquartered in California. Alan’s professional experience includes management, client service, and sales.

As a community volunteer, Alan has held a number of diverse roles, e.g., he has worked for Corrections Canada mentoring under-age offenders, fundraised for the United Way-Centraide of Ottawa-Carleton, and helped to organize a Neighbourhood Watch Program.

Having learned first-hand the devastation that a poorly built home can cause for a family, Alan is keen to work to ensure that no other homeowners in Canada ever have to go through this experience, which is why he is so firmly committed to Canadians for Properly Built Homes.

Mary McAllister-Diks, Director,
Canadians for Properly Built Homes

Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Mary McAllister-Diks obtained her Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario license in 1988.  In 1990, Mary co-purchased her family’s insurance brokerage firm. In addition to continuing her education relating to insurance, Mary and her business partner expanded their firm by purchasing two more brokerages during the next four years. 

In 1998, Mary and her husband started their family, and she found it was impossible for her to give her normal 110% to her clients and business interests once her children arrived.  Therefore, Mary and her business partner sold their insurance brokerages in 1998.  Mary continued to work for the purchaser of the brokerages for another year, helping with the transition period. At the end of the year, she decided to dedicate her full time to raising her family.

But the decision for Mary to quit work and focus on her family did not work out as Mary and her husband planned. In April 2000, Mary and her husband contracted to have a new home built in the country outside of Ottawa.  They took possession of their “dream home” in 2001.  To their horror, they quickly realized that their brand new home had a myriad of construction defects, including over a dozen violations of the Ontario building code.  Given that their builder refused to address their concerns, they turned to the Ontario New Home Warranty Program (ONHWP), (now operating as Tarion) for assistance.  The result was a 2 ½ year battle with the builder and subsequently Tarion. This experience forced Mary to become very familiar with the Ontario New Home Warranty Plans Act (the Act).  Understanding the limits, Tarion’s interpretation and enforcement of the Act, was key.  Battling terminology such as “illegal substitution, code violations, breach of contract, done in a workmanlike manner and denial of access”, Mary persevered.  Mary was forced to hire independent home inspectors and an engineer to substantiate her claims.  She also had to educate herself in regard to the building code, building procedures, materials and costs.  After still meeting resistance from the builder and Tarion, Mary and her husband appealed Tarion’s decisions, and eventually appeared in front of the Licensing Appeal Tribunal (LAT) on three separate occasions. These LAT hearings proved to be very successful for Mary and her husband, and they ultimately received the maximum payable under the Ontario New Home Warranty Act.  Her builder’s license was revoked by Tarion in December 2005.

As noted by Mary:  “While going through our ordeal, I was continuously looking for other families and/or organizations that would understand, and help guide me through this exhausting process.  It wasn’t until after our grueling ordeal that I discovered Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH).  When I familiarized myself about CPBH, I instantly realized their value to consumers. My hope is that by working with CPBH, I can help others to avoid our disastrous experience."

Lori Bryden,
Director, Canadians for Properly Built Homes

Lori Bryden has been in the education field for more than 25 years.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University, a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University, and a Master of Education from Acadia University.  In 2007 she was a Liberal candidate in the Ontario Provincial election for the Leeds-Grenville Riding. 

Lori is married to Rick Bryden and they have a daughter, Mara.  This family knows first hand the need for greatly improved consumer protection in relation to newly built homes.  Tragically, the Bryden family faced tremendous problems in relation to their newly built home and the lack of adequate consumer protection.    

Lori is well known for working to help others and she brings this passion and dedication to the mission and vision of Canadians for Properly Built Homes.