Toronto city councillors
Pam McConnell and
Denzil Minnan-Wong are not often on the same side of an issue, but the staunchly left wing McConnell and the vocally conservative Minnan-Wong got together recently to
announce the launch of an innovative pilot project in a low-income housing project near the Moss Park neighbourhood on the downtown east side.
The one-year project will see low-income residents of Toronto Community Housing's building at 155 Sherbourne Street in McConnell's ward get free wi-fi throughout and around the building, and 30 laptop computers will be available to the residents to sign out and use. McConnell called the project, a collaboration between the City of Toronto and Toronto Community Housing, "vital."
"For some residents, this is their first real exposure to computers and
the Internet, and this pilot is very exciting for them," McConnell said. "As they
socialize with neighbours in the common area, they will be able to
develop and improve computer skills, research job and training
opportunities, and access information and services most of us take for
granted."
The idea was brought to the city by Minna-Wong, after he saw a similar program in place in San Francisco. "I hope that we get a lot of positive input from this
pilot so the City can explore the possibility of rolling this out to
other Priority Investment Neighbourhoods," he said.
A representative from Toronto Community Housing said that the project will aid residents of the low-income housing project in connecting with educational and employment opportunities, and said the agency hoped the project would aid in efforts to provide innovative services to low-income residents across the city.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Jeffrey Ferrier, Toronto Community Housing