August 24th, 2017

The province must pay its fair share for social housing repairs: Statement by Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath issued the following statement.

“While investing in energy efficient retrofits for social housing is a necessary step in the fight against climate change, it appears Kathleen Wynne is still failing to understand the most urgent needs in social housing.

What today’s government re-announcement fails to address, and what Kathleen Wynne’s most recent budget doesn’t deal with at all, is the urgent need for provincial funding to fix the capital repair backlog that is threatening the closure of hundreds of social housing units in Toronto alone. Earlier this year I joined Mayor John Tory for a visit to a TCHC housing unit so badly in need of basic repairs that it wasn’t safe for people to live there. With thousands of families currently on the affordable housing wait-list in Toronto, we can’t afford to see one unit closed for want of repair.

We can do so much better, but municipalities can’t shoulder the cost without help. The provincial government has a responsibility to partner with cities across Ontario, including Toronto, to pay its fair share for social housing repairs. An NDP government will share capital repair costs for social housing in a one-third split between provincial, federal and municipal governments.”