Lack of funding leaves thousands waiting for housing
Re New housing minister waiting for TCHC plan, Aug. 1 The 2017 federal budget allotted $11 billion over seven years for maintenance and development of housing. When the Ontario provincial government released its 2017 budget, it allotted nothing to alleviate the backlog of repairs and the development of new housing.
As well-intentioned as new Ontario Housing Minister Peter Milczyn may be, the obstacles provided by the lack of funding will leave him waiting just as long as number 181,000 on Toronto’s wait list for public housing.
With the Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) needing $1.73 billion for repairs alone, it seems that constructing new public housing is secondary. The 181,000 would remain on the wait list while current residents are displaced because of general disrepair.
We need a housing policy that provides housing for all who need it. Troy J. Young, Toronto Re Fear, frustration at Firgrove, July 29 What a human tragedy this story reveals! How heartbreaking to want to be there to raise your great-grandchildren and have this impeded.
So many questions come to mind. Why are we making people live in substandard housing? Why are we forcing people out of substandard housing into an even more marginalized space?
“With TCHC needing $1.73 billion for repairs alone, it seems that constructing new public housing is secondary.” TROY YOUNG TORONTO
Where is our sense of trust and respect for the vulnerable? Do we not value human life and living necessities for everyone?
Why do decisions made by the city of Toronto always come down to money or the lack of it?
Young children need to be raised in a loving, adequate environment with a caring adult. Adults need a suitable space to call home. Without empathy, how could we ever be a world-class city? Shari Baker, Toronto The only examples you provide in this story about tenants of Toronto community housing having to find a new apartment is that of two women who have obviously been over-housed in units they did not qualify for.
Perhaps the real story should be why these units were not given to a family requiring accommodations of this size. TCHC’s mandate is to manage the housing inventory in a fair manner and it appears that is what it is trying to do. Corrie Davis, Vaughan