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At its meeting on Thursday June 13, 2013, the Ombudsman Fiona Crean presented her report, Housing at Risk to Council, outlining TCHC’s practice of unfairly and callously evicting seniors from their homes. The report was endorsed by Council with a vote of 34-2 (Doug Ford and Doug Holyday voted against it). According to the Toronto Star, Mayor Ford missed most of the debate, skipped the vote, and chose to defend the eviction practices of TCHC. Ford’s insensitive comment was: “I don’t care if you’re two years old, 20 years old, or 200 years old, you’re not going to live for free.”

Council passed six additional motions

Council was more supportive, passing six additional motions related to the report. You can read the motions on the City’s website, or read our summary:

(1) A motion by Josh Matlow motion requires TCHC to inform the Ombudsman every time a senior is facing eviction for arrears until March 2014; and for the Ombudsman to provide a follow-up report at that time

(2) A motion by Maria Augimeri was for (a) Council to request that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care provide funding to the TCHC to assist residents with mental health problems; (b) for TCHC to withdraw rent prior to seniors receiving their benefit payments; (c) that seniors be assisted with the transition to higher rents that come at the age of 65; and (d) for better communication between TCHC and  Employment and Social Services.

(3) A motion by Paula Fletcher requested a Commissioner of Housing Equity be established at TCHC, as recommended in the LeSage report.

(4) A motion by Frances Nunziata requested (a) that Council strongly encourage TCHC to implement the report’s recommendations; (b) TCHC  provide updates on this progress in the Board’s quarterly performance report;  (c) the CEO report on the number of vulnerable seniors in arrears and on a proposal to implement a payment plan.

(5) A motion by James Pasternak requested (a) that TCHC create a mechanism,  program, or referral system to ensure that tenants in arrears are given guidance/referrals to ensure they are receiving their maximum federal financial entitlement; and (b) to request an increase in retroactivity of seniors’ benefit payments

(6) A motion by Adam Vaughan requested (a) for the inclusion of whistle-blower protection policy in the forthcoming Shareholder Direction for TCHC; (b) that TCHC to communicate with tenants in their language of choice and in English; (c) that the unspent portion of Shelter, Support and Housing be  split between the social housing reserve fund to create new affordable housing and the supplement programs to keep tenants properly housed; (d) a report on Vancouver’s training and follow-up services to vulnerable tenants

You can respond too! June 19th, 2013

The Ombudsman is presenting her report to the TCHC Board of Directors on June 19th, 2013 (5:45pm – 9:30pm). You can make a deputation to the Board and give your feedback on the Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations. See details here.

T4SH members at City Council (June 12, 2013) for the release of the Ombudsman’s report “Housing At Risk”

Tenants put in a full day at City Hall on June 12, 2013 to be present for the release of the Ombudsman’s Report, “Housing at Risk,” which details the TCHC’s systematic and unfair practice of evicting vulnerable tenants from social housing.

The Toronto Star reported the following update from the meeting, which continues on Thursday June 13, 2013:

Join T4SH at City Hall to show  support for the Ombudsman’s report, which exposed TCHC’s practice of evicting vulnerable seniors from social housing. This will be the second item discussed at the June 12 meeting.

According to the report, “the investigation’s findings are more unsettling in this case than in previous investigations and inquires, because the TCHC’s prior undertakings remain unfulfilled.” Ombudsman Fiona Crean found that TCHC does not follow its own Evictions Prevention Policy, and does not use evictions as a last resort. In today’s Toronto Star, Justice LeSage weighed in on the report: “The most disappointing thing is that they didn’t follow my report,” he said, referring to his report recommending that TCHC change its approach to evictions, after 82-year old Al Gosling became homeless and died following an eviction from his TCHC home.

T4SH wants to make it clear to Toronto’s City Council that social housing matters, and that everyone deserves a safe and affordable home – especially those who are vulnerable.  Social housing is supposed to protect people with low incomes, and putting them on the street is simply not acceptable.

This morning T4SH put out a media release to respond to the Ombudsman’s Report about TCHC’s practice of unfairly evicting marginalized tenants  from their homes. T4SH sees this as clear evidence that TCHC’s house is NOT in order – contrary to claims made by Mayor Rob Ford, who has presided over TCHC during the time that these evictions happened. Ford also appointed CEO Gene who argued that “Good evictions prevention programs cannot be implemented at the expense of rent collection.”

Download a copy of the  T4SH News Release or read it below:

Yesterday the City’s Ombudsman, Fiona Crean, released a report, Housing at Risk, detailing the TCHC’s unfair evictions of senior citizens from its social housing stock. The report found that TCHC used arrears as a justification for evicting tenants who had social and health issues. These upsetting findings show that TCHC has not changed its practices regarding the eviction of vulnerable tenants, which came to light in the LeSage report following the death of Al Gosling. Gosling was evicted for arrears at the age of 82, became homeless, and died shortly afterwards. The report also found that TCHC is not following its own Eviction Prevention Policy, which requires staff to make contact with tenants and treat eviction as a last resort.

T4SH is saddened to find evidence that arrears management is considered a higher priority than providing shelter to the city’s most vulnerable people. As tenants, we have long been aware of this type of treatment, and are happy to see it come to light in this report.

Click here to read the whole report or view the Ombudsman’s Press Release

T4SH will be at City Council (June 11 & 12) for the release of this report. Please join us, and make sure tenant voices are heard. No more unfair evictions! Check back here closer to the date for specific details on when the report will be presented.

Tenants for Social Housing members have drafted a submission to the City of Toronto Affordable Housing Committee’s Special Working Group (SWG), which was created by Councilor Ana Bailao to look at alternatives to selling off 619 homes and ways to fund the capital repair backlog facing TCHC. Please DOWNLOAD A COPY!

We eagerly anticipate the release of the SWG’s report, in advance of the October 9th, 2012 City of Toronto Executive Committee meeting. Our submission to the group asks them to remember the following:

- Different tenants have different housing needs and an effective strategy incorporates a range of housing: including houses, town-homes, stacked town-homes, and low-rise homes.

- Tenants deserve to live in every neighbourhood of the city, regardless of income

- Poor management must not be an excuse to eliminate any affordable or social housing in the city

- The City of Toronto must exhaust tools within its purview to ensure that tenants have access to affordable, safe, and healthy homes.

- Any affordable home-ownership strategy must include a concrete strategy to maintain and build new affordable, rental at-grade homes.

- Tenants must be treated with respect, regardless of who their landlord may be

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT!

Join T4SH and Councillor Raymond Cho this Saturday July 14th, 11:00am-1:00pm at the Malvern Public Library (30 Sewells Road) for a Scarborough community meeting on the future of affordable housing, tenants, and TCHC. See details below.

On Wednesday July 18th, 2012 join East End Tenants and T4SH at the Ralph Thornton Centre (765 Queen Street East) from 6:30-8:30pm for a community meeting on the future of TCHC, affordable housing, and tenants. Speakers include Councillor Paula Fletcher, tenant Rosie Da Silva, and housing advocate Michael Shapcott from the Wellesley Institute.

The City of Toronto’s Affordable Housing Committee created a Special Working group that is looking into the repair needs of TCHC and the future of “stand-alone” TCHC homes. During the months of June and July, tenants have the chance to shape the future of TCHC by participating in the committee’s consultation.

GET INVOLVED with Tenants for Social Housing in the consultation:

- Attend our meetings to learn more about the issues

- Let the Special Working Group members know that different types of homes are necessary to accommodate the whole diverse range of TCHC tenants.

- Contact your Councillor and ask them to support tenants who want to remain in the communities they call home. Tell the Councillors not to sell our homes. (Call 311 to get in contact with your Councillor)

- Share your stories and solutions on how to deal with repairs in TCHC

Finally, the Special Working Group has distributed a survey to all tenants living in stand-alone homes. If you received a survey, T4SH can help you to fill it out, discuss the implications of the survey, and offer support.

The Toronto Star  and Globe and Mail are both reporting that Municipal Affairs and Affordable Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne is reversing her earlier decision (to wait for the Special Working Group report on the impacts of housing privatization) and will be approving the sale of the 65 homes. The sale of these homes was approved by Council last October. Wynne’s change of heart was influenced by Mayor Rob Ford, who “went over Ms. Wynne’s head to the premier with a June 7 letter demanding the province approve the sales right away.”

We are calling on tenants and supporters to respond to this right away! The province must stop this path to the massive sell off of housing NOW. With 619 more homes being considered for potential sale, Provincial approval for these 65 homes would set a scary precedent.

Contact Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty and demand that they both deal with the real issues that are facing tenants living in TCHC and the over 83,000 families that are still waiting for affordable housing. Demand that they stop the sell off and find real solutions to the repair problems in TCHC and the housing crisis this City is facing!

For more information, read this great piece by Michael Shapcott of Toronto’s Wellesley Institute: No Quick Sell Off

PLEASE CONTACT BOTH WYNNE & MCGUINTY TODAY! PHONE THEM! EMAIL THEM! WE NEED TO STOP THIS SALE NOW.

Minister Kathleen Wynne (her Ministry contact info)
kwynne.mpp@liberal.ola.org
416-585-7000

Premier Dalton McGuinty
Dalton.McGuinty@premier.gov.on.ca
416-325-3777

TCHC is hosting “Town Hall” talks to hear from tenants about various issues (including crime, safety, and building maintenance). Tenants will be there to let them know how much we care about social housing, and oppose the sale of our homes on any pretense. We also reject obvious attempts to drive a wedge between those in apartment buildings and those living in single-family (or so-called ‘stand-alone’ homes). Selling off the home of one tenant to fix the home of another is not the way to address capital repairs! Tenants are united in our opposition to the sale of our homes.

See the complete list of dates below: