Toronto Hydro is selling off its telecommunications unit – Toronto Hydro Telecom owns 450 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across the city as well as a Wi-Fi network – to Cogeco Cable Inc. for $200 million. With the proceeds of the sale Toronto Hydro will conduct a major upgrade of its distribution system and pay the City of Toronto a $75 million special dividend.

This $75 million will hopefully be invested by the city into improving its pathetic and often sub-human public housing which for years has been plagued (pun intended) with rodent and insect infestations, water damage, electrical problems, crumbling walls and balconies, mould, and the list goes on. Currently there are over 160,000 people living in pubic housing. The money is earmarked for use by Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) to refurbish 5,000 of its 58,000 units, retrofit 10 buildings with energy efficient systems, and to repair and bring back up to code 250 buildings that have been standing empty and derelict.

In case you think that the $75 million will fix public housing, think again. The estimated repairs 3 years ago were $225 million. Today the costs are estimated at $300 million. The estimates keep going up as the conditions in public housing continue to deteriorate while the city and the province continue to fight about who is responsible for repairing and maintaining these units. In the meantime the public housing residents have had enough and one resident launched a class-action lawsuit against the Toronto Community Housing Corporation last September, citing substandard conditions and an inability to get repairs completed promptly when required. The number of people who have signed onto the lawsuit has grown exponentially.

The $75 million is only a start and it is not yet a fait accompli - the decision to spend the $75 million dividend on public housing will now go before city council for approval and not everyone is happy about it. Perhaps the dissenters should spend some time in a public housing unit.