Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the provincial government will help pay one-third of the $2.6 billion required in the next decade to fix the backlog of repairs to social housing buildings across Toronto if her party wins the 2018 provincial election.
“The last thing we need in the City of Toronto, or anywhere else in the province, is to lose more of our social housing stock to the lack of repair problems,” Horwath told reporters following a tour of a Toronto Community Housing building on Bleecker Street with Mayor John Tory Monday morning.
Tory has been steadfast in his effort to meet with provincial leaders in recent weeks following his vocal disappointment with the Liberal provincial budget on the lack of new funding for transit and social housing in Toronto.
“I hope the commitment that Ms. Horwath and the NDP will cause the others to pause and reflect, not just on matters of money, I hope they will pause and reflect on who we’re talking about here,” Tory said.
READ MORE: Patrick Brown meets Toronto mayor, vows to be trusted partner on housing, transit needs
“We’re talking about single families. We’re talking about people on disability. We’re talking about elderly people who have nowhere else to turn.”
Tory maintains he is not picking sides in the provincial election and is simply looking at what the party leaders are offering.
“It comes down to sounding like it’s about money, it’s about people’s lives,” the mayor said. “It’s about people who are living in these substandard conditions who sometimes can’t really speak for themselves very effectively, in terms of having a voice that is heard.”
VIDEO: Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown meets with Toronto mayor on community housing
Tory met with Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown last week in an attempt to gauge his openness to additional funding support on transit and housing if he is elected premier of Ontario.
Some of Brown’s promises included allowing the city to work with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) to purchase natural gas at lower rates, which he said would save the city over $6 million annually.
READ MORE: Ontario budget 2017: Toronto mayor accuses province of turning its back on transit, housing
He also vowed to block violent criminals from reapplying to live in community housing units, something Tory has advocated for in the past.
The PC leader, however, did not make any monetary commitments for repair backlogs.
Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said last week her government has committed billions to transit in Toronto, as well as $130 million for affordable and social housing announced in last month’s budget.
The premier also criticized the mayor for being “counterproductive” for his recent statements which have since compounded the rift of the once amicable relationship between the two leaders.
VIDEO: Young tenant appeals to Tory on social-housing repairs
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