Not everyone living in subsidized housing in Calgary is poor
Posted Jun 11, 2013 12:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has obtained documents that show hundreds of people who are bilking the city’s Calgary Housing Company.
Alberta spokesman Derek Filderbrandt says they have discovered over 12 hundred tenants who are making between $50,000 and $172,000.
The documents were obtained through the Freedom of Information act.
The CTF is calling on the provincial government to investigate, Filderbrandt says he’s been told Municipal Affairs is looking into the matter, but taxpayers shouldn’t be happy until these people are kicked out of their subsidized homes.
He says while $50,000 a year doesn’t make a person rich, that is more than enough for a person to stand on their own two feet.
The Calgary Housing Company says it’s already put measures in to make sure the “not-so-poor” aren’t taking up space in subsidized housing.
General Manager Rick Farrell tells 660News, it is already seeing improvement.
“What we did first of all is we established income limits for all of our programs, and those are income thresholds set by bedroom level. We do testing every year of those incomes.” He says.
But Farrell adds the remaining tenants whose income doesn’t line up are “grandfathered in”, and the Housing Company is left waiting for the numbers to diminish on their own.
