Toronto Mayor John Tory has written an open letter calling on the provincial government to change the rules regarding evictions at Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) properties.
In a letter addressed to Minister of Housing Steve Clark, Tory asked for a change to provincial law so that repeat criminals could be banned from TCHC properties.
“Currently, a tenant who is evicted for serious behavioural misconduct, such as drug dealing or domestic violence, is immediately able to apply for re-housing from Toronto Community Housing,” Tory said in the letter.
“I believe we have a duty in government to do everything possible to stop the misconduct of a small group of people who are disrupting the lives of law-abiding Toronto Community Housing residents,” he added.
City council voted in April 2017 to request that the province amend the Housing Services Act so that repeat criminals could be banned from TCHC housing after being evicted for criminal activity.
The Liberal government at the time did not approve the changes.
“We asked Kathleen Wynne. Her government ended up saying no to us on that, so I’m going back to the new government of Ontario and saying … that they should change that law,” Tory said following an event on Sunday. “This is one more thing they can do to address the safety of a particular group of people.”
You can read Tory’s open letter here.