Mayor Rob Ford says he disagrees with “many things” in the ombudsman’s report on the Toronto Community Housing Corp.’s mistreatment of seniors with unpaid rent — though he does not appear to be familiar with much of what the report says.
Ford reverted Thursday to the bombastic speaking style he has rarely deployed in a council meeting since he was elected mayor. Gesticulating and shouting, he defended the TCHC for eviction practices the TCHC has already conceded were improper in the wake of an investigation by ombudsman Fiona Crean.
“I don’t care if you’re 2 years old, 20 years old or 200 years old, you're not going to live for free,” Ford said. Of TCHC chief executive Gene Jones, he said, “Obviously he has fixed the problem. Is it perfect? No.” Turning to a left-leaning critic, he yelled, “You! You’re the problem!”
Ford was speaking during a stressful morning in which he faced repeated media questions about whether he was connected to a major drug raid in Etobicoke.
He said again that he was “saddened and shocked” by the Crean report, which found that TCHC failings led to the eviction of a senior, Julio Fernandez, who died of a heart attack three weeks later. But he did not appear to have read the report in detail.
Ford said Crean had made “50, 100” recommendations, though she made 30. He said he is certain TCHC employees try to make face-to-face contact with seniors before evicting them, though Crean found such contact has often been forgotten. And he claimed that there were a mere 13 seniors evicted in 2011, compared with 32 in 2008 — though Crean says there were 25 seniors evicted for unpaid rent in 2011, and 50 in 2012.
Ford’s figures “were not correct,” Crean said in an interview. “We subsequently had some discussions with senior counsel at TCHC, who confirmed they were not correct.”
Ford missed most of the debate on the report on Wednesday. He participated Thursday but skipped the vote. The report was endorsed 34-2, with Councillor Doug Ford and Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday against.
Councillor Gord Perks, a Ford opponent, said Ford was “confused, uninformed, angry, and quite frankly hurtful to the individuals who have lost their homes and their families.:
“It breaks my heart that our housing company is throwing people who can’t look after themselves out on the street and the mayor of Toronto denies the problem, clearly hasn’t read the report, and thinks the only thing that matters is whether he gets a personal phone call,” Perks said.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Daniel Dale
Ford reverted Thursday to the bombastic speaking style he has rarely deployed in a council meeting since he was elected mayor. Gesticulating and shouting, he defended the TCHC for eviction practices the TCHC has already conceded were improper in the wake of an investigation by ombudsman Fiona Crean.
“I don’t care if you’re 2 years old, 20 years old or 200 years old, you're not going to live for free,” Ford said. Of TCHC chief executive Gene Jones, he said, “Obviously he has fixed the problem. Is it perfect? No.” Turning to a left-leaning critic, he yelled, “You! You’re the problem!”
Ford was speaking during a stressful morning in which he faced repeated media questions about whether he was connected to a major drug raid in Etobicoke.
He said again that he was “saddened and shocked” by the Crean report, which found that TCHC failings led to the eviction of a senior, Julio Fernandez, who died of a heart attack three weeks later. But he did not appear to have read the report in detail.
Ford said Crean had made “50, 100” recommendations, though she made 30. He said he is certain TCHC employees try to make face-to-face contact with seniors before evicting them, though Crean found such contact has often been forgotten. And he claimed that there were a mere 13 seniors evicted in 2011, compared with 32 in 2008 — though Crean says there were 25 seniors evicted for unpaid rent in 2011, and 50 in 2012.
Ford’s figures “were not correct,” Crean said in an interview. “We subsequently had some discussions with senior counsel at TCHC, who confirmed they were not correct.”
Ford missed most of the debate on the report on Wednesday. He participated Thursday but skipped the vote. The report was endorsed 34-2, with Councillor Doug Ford and Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday against.
Councillor Gord Perks, a Ford opponent, said Ford was “confused, uninformed, angry, and quite frankly hurtful to the individuals who have lost their homes and their families.:
“It breaks my heart that our housing company is throwing people who can’t look after themselves out on the street and the mayor of Toronto denies the problem, clearly hasn’t read the report, and thinks the only thing that matters is whether he gets a personal phone call,” Perks said.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Daniel Dale
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