The liberal mayor of “sanctuary city” Toronto now expects federal assistance in dealing with the influx of illegals streaming into his city.
Mayor John Tory fully supports his city’s “sanctuary city” status — one of four Canadian cities now so designated by their respective city councils — but doesn’t think Toronto can accommodate the increasing number of illegal refugees showing up at the city’s homeless shelters looking for aid and assistance.
Tory has written a letter to Liberal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen seeking extra funding to deal with a refugee crisis that Toronto’s “sanctuary city” status has contributed to.
Estimates for January indicate that 810 “refugees” showed up at Toronto emergency shelters in that month — an 80 percent increase from the year before.
“Opening the doors is not enough,” Tory’s letter states.
“We must make sure our cities have the resources they need to support new arrivals and set them up for success over the long-term.”
The mayor’s letter demands immediate and ongoing funding from the federal government to assist with the city’s shelter system and its “newcomer” office, which will allow illegals coming into the city to apply for public assistance. Tory writes that the extra money is required from the federal government “to ensure that existing services are not further strained.”
Government-sponsored refugees receive programming and support for 12 months but that may not apply to asylum seekers.
Tory’s letter lavishes praise on the federal government’s “hands-off” policy toward asylum seekers who are crossing into Canada from the United States at official and unofficial border crossings and calling themselves refugees and claiming — incorrectly — that President Donald Trump is going to deport them. As a former leader of the of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, Tory seems aptly named, but he is known as a Red Tory in conservative political circles for his liberal social policies.
“We cannot accept people here in their time of need only to see them fall through the cracks or lack the resources to reach their true potential,” maintains Tory in his letter.
Tory is on the record as describing Toronto as “magnet” for asylum seekers because, as Canada’s largest city, illegals can blend into the sprawling and ethnically-mixed urban population. Toronto city council first declared the city a sanctuary city in 2013 but reaffirmed that designation earlier this year — the status enables illegals access to city services because they are not required to reveal their immigration status.
Dr. Meb Rashid, an employee of the Christie Refugee Welcome Centre and the Crossroads Clinic at Women’s College Hospital, expressed enthusiasm for the mayor’s pleas for federal money to alleviate the city’s problems.
“Certainly having more resources to support our colleagues in the shelter system is incredibly important,” he told CBC Toronto.
Tory’s office would not say exactly how much money it wants from the Trudeau government, which is expected to announce its annual federal budget in Parliament very soon.
Tory wants to meet with Immigration Minister Hussen to discuss his options.