politics
John Tory Plans to Create Task Force on TCHC
Mayor-elect vows to take action on "disgraceful and unacceptable condition" of TCHC buildings after he assumes office.
Mayor-elect John Tory met with his transition team at Metro Hall this morning to discuss the challenges facing the Toronto Community Housing Corporation and the state and availability of affordable housing in Toronto.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, he stressed that tackling TCHC’s issues—which include a sizeable capital repair backlog and a lengthy wait-list for housing—would require the creation of partnerships. “We can’t just have this as an exercise where you go to the other governments and get money,” he said. “That’s an important part of this—but that we’ve got to have all hands on deck here, with the private sector, with the different ideas they might have, some of their resources, some of their ingenuity when it comes to financing things.”
Housing, he suggested, should be examined in the context of unemployment: repairing TCHC housing, currently in a “disgraceful and unacceptable condition,” would serve as a job-creating program—a point, he says, that should be of interest to other governments.
He indicated that more specific goals would be established later, but that he has plans to establish a TCHC task force once he takes office. The meeting this morning, he explained, had illustrated that time is “of the essence” when it comes to the issues of TCHC repairs, the supply of affordable housing, and homelessness, and he’s now considering a more aggressive timeline.
“The people have the right to expect that we will do better in those areas than we have done, that they will see more get done, and that they’re able to say after four years of this administration that things are much better than they were.”