Premise of Telecom editorial incorrect
The opening premise of this editorial took issue with the time of day the news conference was held to announce the City's $75 million investment in public housing.
Here are the facts:
In arranging the news conference and issuing the media advisory; we were, of course, required to await the decision of the Toronto Hydro Corporation Board to sell Hydro Telecom. This sale is what made the funds available for this investment. This decision was made the same day as the news conference and therefore no media advisory or other notice could be issued prior.
We were then required by market regulations to await the closure of the markets and the formal announcement of the sale of Hydro Telecom. The markets closed at 4 p.m. at which time Hydro Telecom and the purchaser issued news releases and then meetings were held with Hydro Telecom staff to inform them of the sale.
A media advisory went out at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon to advise of an important announcement at 5:30 p.m and a number of councillors and others were present as a result and the news conference was very well attended by media. The media present at the news conference - including the city hall reporter for your newspaper - were advised of the reasons for having to hold the news conference late in the day. The sale and use of the funds represents a major step forward for the city and the decision to invest the money in public housing will be reviewed by both the executive committee and Toronto City Council. The statements made in your editorial are patently false and your readers should know it.
Kevin Sack
Director, Strategic Communications
City of Toronto
