By Joe Fiorito City Columnist

Steve Floros came to a public meeting a little while ago. He is the acting head of Toronto Community Housing, and the meeting was held at 7 Arleta Ave.

If that address rings a bell, it is because 82-year-old Al Gosling lived here; at least, he did until TCHC kicked him onto the streets last summer.

You know how that turned out; if you don’t, I attended a memorial for Al one night late last week.

You are right to think that Floros looked a little uncomfortable at the meeting, given that his organization took the lead in evicting Al.

But at least Floros came.

On the other hand, he might not have had much choice. Maria Augimeri, city councillor for York Centre, is the one who called the meeting; she was also raised in the neighbourhood and, more to the point, she grew up in community housing.

The meeting was held in the common room of the building where Al used to live: pretty balloons, cheery pictures, dartboards on the walls.

There were perhaps 80 people in attendance, all of them residents, most of them elderly. And in the air, this thought: What happens to one of us happens to all of us.

Just before the meeting started, the woman next to me cast a glance around the room, noted the presence of TCHC staff and said, sotto voce, “You should have seen them scurrying around the building, cleaning up. I’ve never seen such a show.”

The meeting began when the councillor asked for a moment of silence for Al Gosling.

And then, after some preliminary chat about a new hospital scheduled to be built in the ward, and the latest news about vaccinations, Augimeri took questions.

Someone asked how it was possible that a man could sleep in the stairwell for seven days, unnoticed by security.

Floros took the question.

“Hi, everybody. Nice to be back.” He used to work in the neighbourhood. He said, “The question is very interesting. It has caused a lot of deep thinking at TCHC.”

I bet it has.

He spoke of the inquiry being conducted by Judge Le Sage and he said, “We want the answer just as much as you do. If there’s something we can learn here, and change, we will.”

I suggest it would be very good if TCHC staff were to do some deep thinking about the welfare of its most vulnerable tenants, just as it would be good to think deeply about what happens to 82-year-old men when they are kicked out of their homes.

But why it takes an old man’s death to prompt such deep thinking is beyond my simple grasp.

The woman then asked if the stairwells might be patrolled at night, and that is something else about which to think.

The next person to speak did not have a question, she had a statement, although you might be forgiven for thinking of it as an accusation: “I called to get help for that man.” By “that man” she meant Al, and the call she placed was to TCHC. Her voice broke when she said, “They told me it was not a priority.”

Think deeply, Mr. Floros.

Another woman said the super and the cleaning staff knew about Al, but that no one did anything until the cops were called.

In the end, Floros did his best to comfort the tenants, several of whom looked at least as old as Al.

He said, “We have done a review; we have very close monitoring of evictions … I assure you there’s very tight control over evictions.’

I am not assured.

Joe Fiorito usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca

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