Toronto Community Housing Corp. board member Ron Struys outside the new Regent Park development.
Mayor Rob Ford is girding for a battle over the future of the city's social-housing organization, warning Wednesday that if the Toronto Community Housing Corporation's leadership won't go quietly when he asks, he's prepared to pursue a shakeup along other avenues.
"I asked Keiko [Nakamura, TCHC CEO]to resign, she said no. I've asked the board members to resign, they said no," he said, admitting he was taken aback at their refusal.
"Yeah, that surprised me a little bit. I thought they would. But they haven't. So we'll have to go another avenue. And it's unfortunate that we have some people on these boards like this."
Mr. Ford can't fire the board or the CEO on his own - he needs council's approval for that. He vacillated Wednesday on whether he'll bring such a motion forward for next week's meeting.
"I can only ask [them to resign] I can't force them. … I have to get new people in there, and I'm going through council," he said on Newstalk 1010 Wednesday morning, adding that he's optimistic he'll succeed. "I can't see any councillor defending these expenditures. It's absolutely ridiculous."
But by Wednesday afternoon, he simply said he was reviewing his options.
"We'll cross that path when we get to it."
Mr. Ford was also non-committal about what he'd like to see in terms of the aggressive overhaul he and his brother, councillor Doug Ford, have both called for at the public-housing corporation.
Both Fords have said since last year's mayoral campaign (and, in Rob Ford's case, for years before that as a councillor) they prefer a private model. Rob Ford said he thinks privately run housing providers would simply do the job better.
If the city did decide it wanted to do away with a public-housing body, it probably wouldn't face a fight from the province: While provincial law requires the city to have a minimum number of subsidized units, they can be supplied by private landlords; the city would just pay a share of each tenant's rent on an income-geared basis.
Multiple times during last year's election campaign, Rob Ford argued it would be easier to simply hand people rent cheques and allow them to live in private apartment buildings.
"If contracting out is the way to go, that's the way we're going to go," the mayor said Wednesday morning, adding a caveat later that day.
"This isn't about privatization, it's about respect for taxpayers," he told reporters. "I'm going to look at everything, like I said, but the first thing we have to deal with is the civilian board members and the CEO. And the only thing to do is resign. Obviously if they condone that kind of reckless spending, like obviously they do, I don't, as mayor. And I won't."
Those board members, for their part, remained defiant. Ron Struys, who has become a spokesman for the seven non-politician, non-tenant members of the board - including chair David Mitchell - said as far as he's concerned, Mr. Ford hasn't asked them to step down.
"I would have thought if he'd wanted to discuss something with us we would have got a phone call - common courtesy," Mr. Struys said.
As far as he's concerned, the board has done its job: They couldn't be expected to keep track of sums as small as $1,000 spent on chocolates, he said; at the same time, while the TCHC has policies around awarding contracts, "you always have exceptions."
If council asks them to leave, Mr. Struys said, they'll leave - "we're there at the pleasure of council."
In the meantime, "we're doing our job," starting with an emergency meeting with Auditor-General Jeff Griffiths Thursday morning.
"We're happy to also appear and meet with the city audit committee. We have nothing to hide. We're there to have a fruitful, constructive discussion."
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WHO'S WHO ON THE TCHC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- David Mitchell (chair): A former resident of Lawrence Heights, Mr. Mitchell was reappointed to serve as chair in 2009. He spent several years working for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, beginning in 1990 as a correctional officer at the Don Jail.
- Zahra Dhanani: Ms. Dhanani has worked in legal aid and mediation, and is legal director of the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children. Her website also identifies her as a DJ and creative educator.
- Michelle Joseph: Executive director of the Central Toronto Community Health Centres, she has also worked as program manager of Pride in the Bronx in New York City and as executive director of Choice, a women's reproductive health clinic in Toronto.
- Greg Kalil: Managing partner of Brookfield Financial, he has also worked as chair of Trellis Housing Initiatives, a group that benefited from the Let's Build program, a fund that gave private actors incentives to build affordable housing.
- Carol Osler: Senior vice-president of TD Bank's enterprise project management office and global physical security, she has also worked at Sun Life Financial and the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority.
- Sheerin A. Sheikh: On the board of directors at Women's College Hospital, she is also a chair of the board of Inter Faith Homes.
- Ronald Struys: A vice-president with real-estate company Downing Street Group and director of the Don Mount Court Development Corporation.