I am writing in response to John Granic's letter in the Dec. 14-20 edition.
I have lived in a co-op apartment in Mississauga for five years. We are not tenants; we are considered "members."
Let me explain. Not all units are rent geared to income or assisted housing. Many members pay market value rent.
Co-ops are not low rental income buildings. The members living here have various incomes. Some work and some cannot. In some cases, both members work.
When I applied for assisted housing, I was given many apartments to consider.
Some were just regular buildings that must rent a certain percentage of units to people who need assistance. I believe 10 to 15 percent of all apartments have to be used for this purpose in all buildings.
People in co-ops are members, not tentants. As members, we pay towards a mortage on our building through a housing charge.
We also contribute time and effort to our building in various ways, including sitting on committees, cleaning the property, etc.
We are like a small community and make decisions for our building, such as repairs and upgrades, by voting at meetings.
The "VACANCY" sign would have been for a regular market rental unit; all the subsidized units were filled at that time.
Peel's Social Housing has no reason to feel ashamed. These are kind and caring people working with what resources they have available to them.
Please make sure you have all the facts before making accusations such as these. Information on co-operative housing is available from the government and on line.
