Nathan Phillips Square
by Benson Kua
Mayor Rob Ford announced that a new board of directors for Toronto´s troubled social housing provider will be appointed by mid-June.
There is a special three-member committee whose responsibility is to examine and recommend seven citizen representatives to the board of Toronto Comunity Housing Corporation. Members of the committee are: Councillor Paul Ainslie (chairman of the government management committee), Mary Flynn-Guglietti (a municipal affairs lawyer, and past president of the Etobicoke Centre Progressive Conservative Riding Association), and Bahadur Mahdani (a former chairman of the YMCA of greater Toronto).
The committee will have to evaluate all applications and carry out interviews with candidates. The names of the successful candidates will be recommended to Mayor Ford, who will bring them in to city council for approval on June 14.
The former board members resigned, along with their chairman, David Mitchell, on Ford´s request after an unacceptable expenses scandal. At the moment, the board consist only of one person, retired Councillor Case Ootes.
Another task for Mayor Ford will be to pick three members of the council for the board. The Councillors will then, at their June 14 meeting, vote on Ford´s decision and will also be requested to validate two elected representatives of TCHC´s 164,000 tenants. Whether there will be a 12th member of the board depends on Ford, as he has the privilege to choose his own representative.
Mayor Ford suggests that the main aim of the new board should be rebuilding the agency´s finances and operations. Ford has speculated about selling some TCHC property and giving subsidies to low-income tenants instead of providing housing for them.
