According to a report by the Toronto Star, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation could use a little work with their “lavish spending” tactics.

The Star cites an unnamed source in their report and says that the auditor general’s report will reveal more about the TCHC’s spending soon enough.

“Here, according to our source, is a partial list of what seem to be highly inappropriate expenses: $1,850 for a boat cruise for the purposes of staff development; $1,925 for manicures and pedicures; $6,000 for a planning session in Muskoka; $40,000 for a staff Christmas party in 2009; $53,500 for a similar bash in 2008; $800 for four massage practitioners at a staff picnic,” writes Joe Fiorito.

The money for the luxuries, says the report, comes from the rent paid by tenants. And with the state of affairs at many of Toronto’s community housing sites less than luxurious, it can sting a little to hear that the TCHC is spending $40,000 on the staff Christmas party.

The report will be delivered to TCHC board members over the weekend and should be out for public perusal by Monday, so we’ll all get to have a crack at it then. It’s been bumped up for unknown reasons, as the report’s original release date was late March.

Fiorito and the Star claim to have seen an internal document that reveals the TCHC report will assert that “the financial amounts raised in the Auditor-General’s report are well below the materiality thresholds for TCHC.”

Fiorito rightly worries that the Ford administration in Toronto will see this as an opportunity to strip the TCHC and, as a result, save millions of dollars in the process. With the budget issues we’ve been discussing here lately, that seems a likely avenue to take. The solution is likely to aim in the direction of private enterprise, of course.

In the end, it’s hard to predict how this will play out. But it can’t be good if the Star and its source have any insight at all.