The Star has picked up and ran with the ball of shit containing the lie that Jack Layton and Olivia Chow lived in subsidized housing
From time to time [Jack Layton] has been criticized for saying one thing and doing another, including being caught red-handed in 1985 living in subsidized housing in Toronto when his and Olivia Chow, then a Toronto trustee, were raking in a combined $120,000 year.
Anyone familiar with co-op housing is aware that all economic levels live there with those in the lower brackets sometimes being subsidized. There are a few townhouse complexes throughout Hamilton based on that very structure.
This is an old and tired lie and beneath contempt, certainly beneath the The Star. It is time for a retraction and an apology and for this lie to be given a proper burial.
Read more at Dr Dawg’s
If this is what passes for journalism …. no memory, political bias and unchecked facts – no wonder the MSM is losing credibility.
The reputable and hard working journalists (and there are some on all three Toronto papers) should have a ‘talk’ with this dude for bringing their profession into disrespect.
I agree with the poster above! At the end of the day it just shows that there is no difference between Liberals and Conservative backers – just the same old, same old – vote for the real progressive alternative!
I live in a housing co-op and we need people with a somewhat higher income (usually teachers, healthcare workers etc) in order to make the co-op viable. We have a limited number of subsidised units (I don’t have one, though I could qualify) and people have to submit their tax returns every year to ensure they have a continued right to them. I think both Jack and Olivia had very temporary positions – elected or appointed. When people’s income exceeds the ceiling for subsidy, someone else in the co-op can gain access to it.
Yes, it is ignorance and I’m rather surprised at the Star (as opposed to the Sun) picking it up. Co-ops play an important part in revitalising neighbourhoods while ensuring that people with limited incomes can continue to live there instead of getting forced out by speculation.
The Star was the paper that initiated this smear 21 years ago; despite it having been thoroughly debunked in the meantime, they are dusting it off again for the election.