Tory’s pen pointed at Wynne
Letter-writing campaign highlights social housing in premier’s own riding
Awar of words between Mayor John Tory and Premier Kathleen Wynne over the responsibility for repairing social housing has escalated in the form of a letter-writing campaign.
In 650 words sent to the premier and a personalized letter for each of Toronto’s MPPs, Tory outlined a crisis for Toronto Community Housing (TCH) that has not abated, with $1.73-billion of repairs still unfunded and no cash commitment from the provincial government.
“This is an urgent situation — units are already slated for closure. Without immediate support, we expect that 400 units will be at risk of closing this year and 600 units will be at risk of closing in 2018,” reads the letter to Wynne signed by Tory and sent Friday afternoon. “That’s1,900 of our most vulnerable residents at risk of losing their homes in two years. The decline will be rapid, and it will impact all of Toronto.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, Tory said he believes Wynne is aware of the moral imperative to fix the crumbling homes that provide shelter to seniors, those with disabilities and other vulnerable residents.
“I know in her heart the premier wants to do something because she cares very much about a lot of these people. She has some of these units in her own riding,” he said.
Tory wrote the letters after a motion drafted by his office pushed through council by housing advocate Councillor Ana Bailao and Toronto Community Housing Corp. board member Councillor Joe Cressy was approved at a meeting at the end of May.
Each letter outlines the number of units headed toward a “critical” state of disrepair in the next five years, following a Star story detailing that never-before-published data from Toronto Community Housing.
In Wynne’s Don Valley West riding, for example, Tory wrote that “a total of 128 units are expected to close while 425 units will be at risk of closing within the next five years.”
Housing Minister Chris Ballard received his own personalized letter and was copied on the other 21letters sent to his Liberal colleagues and two NDP MPPs.
“As the Minister of Housing, I believe it is incumbent on you to advocate for housing needs in Ontario and ensure that these homes are maintained for our most vulnerable residents,” Tory’s letter to Ballard reads.
Tory has been singling out MPPs since a pointed press conference in May and calling on the province to return to the table after years of passing the responsibility for social housing to the city. In response to those demands, Ballard has repeatedly insisted the province is investing in housing, but citing funding for affordable housing generally — that has very little impact on the massive TCH repairs bill.
The city is receiving $130 million for social housing energy retrofits from the province over three years. But the province has not committed to the repairs plan, of which they were requested to pay one third of the bill, or $864 million.
TCH runs out of money for repairs at the end of this year. With a file from Betsy Powell