The committee tasked with figuring out what to do about the enormous backlog of repairs to Toronto's subsidized housing met for the first time last week, beginning a process that it hopes will resolve the $751-million problem.
Their deadline, tight for such committees, is to submit a final report by September 10.
"It's obviously a challenging task," says councillor Ana Bailão. "We're going to be ensuring that we have a concerned and open process, that we engage tenants, that we engage stakeholders, and I'm sure we're going to be able to bring something to the table in September."
The initial meeting, held April 16, was organizational in nature, setting interim goals and laying out how the committee will operate. Its first task will be to send out a questionnaire to all
Toronto Community Housing tenants. One of the chief challenges there is to get the questionnaire translated into as many languages as that may require.
The
committee is scheduled to release an interim report on May 28, likely before responses to the questionnaire are received.
In the meantime, community consultations are being organized to include tenants and other stakeholders.
According to city staff, almost every TCH property requires repair of some sort, whether major or simply fresh coats of paint. One of the committee's jobs is to perform a sort of triage, applying what funds are available to the most urgently needed repairs.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Ana Bail
ão
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