February 25, 2008
The Honorable Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building, Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
Dear Premier:
With this letter, the Toronto
Housing Association of Tenants (THAT) is writing seeking support in
the 2008 Budget for the unnecessary capital repairs situation in the
Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) that resulted from the
download of housing from the province to municipalities in 2001.
We are aware that for over
a year, tenants in Toronto have been calling on the Provincial Government
to fund the backlog in capital repairs in the TCHC through the tenant
led Save Our Structures effort and similar such advocacy efforts.
From 2004-2006, TCHC tenants
filed over 400,000 requests for repair work and the value of capital
repairs has grown to $300 million as of 2007.
We understand that the TCHC
does not have the money needed to deal with the backlog in capital repairs
that cause unnecessary harm to their tenants however too realize that
this issue affects all of the 164,000 tenants of the TCHC, or roughly
6% of the City of Toronto’s population,
Resultant from the lack of
funding to address the capital repair need, TCHC tenants are forced
to live in unhealthy conditions which impact every part of their lives.
Living with mold, water damage, chronic faulty wiring and plumbing,
leaky ceilings and rundown playgrounds and unsafe entrance lobbies and
public spaces is a reality many tenants face daily.
As a tenant run organization
with strong ties to the TCHC and a mandate of “Tenants Helping Tenants”,
we feel that tenants in Toronto Community Housing have waited long enough
for decent homes and urge the Provincial Government to provide an immediate
solution by allocating funds in the 2008 Provincial Budget to eliminate
the backlog in capital repairs and provide decent homes to tenants.
Sincerely,
Wallace Simpson, President
Toronto Housing Association
of Tenants
cc.: The Honorable Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance
The Honorable Jim Watson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
The Honorable George Smitherman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long Term Care