Torontonians who are well off should give money to social causes that will make the city a better place to live, says the former head of TD Bank.

Providing affordable housing for those on the margins and help for the homeless, in particular, are two areas where resources are sorely needed, Ed Clark said.

“I don’t like to be preachy. But I’m saying, ‘Can we get one more person to join the club?’ In this area, what you could do with a small sum of money is incredible. You can transform a whole a family’s life,” Clark told the Star in an interview.

The banker’s remarks came the day before his keynote address to the Economic Club of Canada. His speech, slated to be delivered to a business crowd at the InterContinental Hotel on Wednesday, is titled: “No Place to Call Home: A Frank Discussion about Housing Challenges in the GTA.”

Clark is expected to share his perspective on these problems, while making what he calls “a shameless attempt” to persuade his audience to donate money in a way that corresponds to their income and wealth.

“I’m not asking you to change the world, but I know we can change the world we live in,” Clark says in his address.

“Toronto must be a place where all its citizens can reach their full potential; live a good, happy and healthy life. Let’s sustain the kind of values and build the kind of brand for our city that makes us all proud to call Toronto home.”

Clark also plans to highlight the work of agencies that are tackling housing issues: the United Way, WoodGreen Community Services’ Homeward Bound, Egale Canada, an advocacy group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered individuals, and Habitat for Humanity.

“A lot of people think it’s hopeless. That is absolutely not the truth. They don’t understand how good and successful these agencies are,” Clark said.

“These are examples of agencies that everyday change somebody’s life.”

Those who earn more than $100,000 each year are in the top 10 per cent of income earners in Canada, Clark notes in his speech. Put another way, fewer than 1 in 10 Canadians earns that much annually, according to the 2011 National Household Survey by Statistics Canada.

Low interest rates, necessary to spur the economy, are making land and housing more expensive and changes in the global economy caused by globalization and technology are benefitting top earners while those at the bottom are being left behind, Clark said.

At the same time, governments are financially stretched.

“The people who have been the beneficiaries of this significant shift in wealth and income have to seriously look at themselves and say, ‘Am I doing enough?’” Clark said.

“People might say to me, raising a family of four on $100,000 a year is no fun thing to do in Toronto. I agree. Raising it on $50,000 is less fun and raising it on $30,000 — which is what you earn to get into a Habitat for Humanity house — in Toronto is tough.”

Habitat for Humanity provided 22 families with homes in the GTA this year and another 26 are under construction. The houses are purchased at full market value through a combination of sweat equity and no-interest, no-profit mortgages. The agency has never had a mortgage default.

Homeward Bound, a program that provides stable housing, education and support programs for women and children, has an 80-per-cent success rate, Clark noted.

“If you go talk to the woman who’s graduating from Homeward Bound and she’s got a job and her kids’ grades have improved, it’s incredible,” Clark said.

“There’s no toy in the world that a rich person could buy that could match the joy that they get from having that conversation and changing that person’s life.”

Clark, long known as the head of one of Canada’s Top Five banks, retired from TD on Nov. 1. The provincial government has also tapped the 67-year-old’s business acumen. Clark recently completed a report that advised the Liberals to sell off Hydro One’s distribution arm, and revamp the ways in which alcohol and beer are sold in the province.

Asked during the interview how much he gives to charity, Clark demurred, even though he has publicly acknowledged giving millions of dollars over the years.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Everyone has to make their own individual decision about how much of their wealth and their income they should give away and what portion of that they want to give to social issues,” he said.

“But should someone like me donate way more as a percentage of my income and my wealth than someone earning $100,000? Absolutely I should.”

For the wealthy, Clark said, “I tell people think of yourself as having one more child than you do and you want that child to have the same as what you give your other children. To me, doing that is a significant statement.”

Read more about: