Politicians asked to try housing units

Toronto agency extends invitation to MPs, MPPs Wants them to understand dire need for $225M

The agency that manages Toronto’s crumbling public housing units wants federal and provincial politicians to live in their buildings to see why funds are desperately needed. Without an immediate $225 million investment to fix and maintain buildings, “ these will be places where people will not be able to live or not want to live,” said Derek Ballantyne, president and chief executive officer of the Toronto Community Housing Corp., after a meeting with the Toronto Star’s editorial board yesterday. “ Frankly, it’s a big public investment that will have gone to waste.” To ensure that politicians understand the dire need for funds, Ballantyne said there’s no better way than to get an MP or MPP to spend time living in an apartment or townhouse owned by the corporation.

“ Nobody has stepped forward yet,” he said, but invitations will certainly be going out.

Councillor Michael Thompson ( Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) said he is trying to arrange time to live in a housing unit and he thinks all councillors should do the same.

“ People need to get a real taste, to get a sense of the desperation of these communities,” Thompson said yesterday. “It’s not enough to visit for 20 minutes.”

Ballantyne is worried that Toronto’s public housing will begin to reflect the U. S. experience, where some public housing was left to become so run- down that it couldn’t even be repaired. Housing projects were eventually bulldozed over. The housing agency is launching a campaign to wrestle $225 million from Ottawa and Queen’s Park for maintenance and repairs — which is the basic amount it says it needs to bring its buildings up to standard. It hasn’t asked the city for funds because the municipal government is essentially tapped out as a result of downloading. The housing corporation, which is Canada’s largest landlord, oversees 58,000 units where 164,000 tenants live. About 70,000 households are currently on the waiting list, with some families facing a wait of up to a decade before getting a spot. Currently, tenants for new units have been waiting between five and seven years. The housing agency became the centre of attention in the summer when the surge in gun violence was often centred around its properties in neighbourhoods such as Rexdale, Jane- Finch in North York and parts of Scarborough.

Ballantyne argues there is no direct link between a crumbling building and gun violence, but he admits it can affect pride in one’s community. He said he wants to see a commitment to spend $225 million within the next year, but conceded it will take three years to do all the repairs.

Mitchell Kosny, who chairs the board of the Toronto Community Housing Corp., warned that full funding is needed. “ Otherwise, we’re just back into the patchwork. It may be bigger patches, but you won’t be able to do the kind of change, you’ve got to have,” Kosny said. The agency currently spends about $50 million a year in capital maintenance, but that only covers basic repairs from a roof to a leaky boiler. Ballantyne emphasized that no politician will keep somebody who has been waiting for years from moving into a vacant apartment. Often, there is some lag time between when a family gets assigned a unit and when someone can move in.