Immigration minister announces $364.2 million for refugee housing

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OTTAWA – Immigration Minister Marc Miller mentioned Wednesday his authorities will present a further $362.4 million to provinces and cities to accommodate 1000’s of asylum claimants who’re coming to Canada in report numbers.

Miller has been beneath stress from each Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Quebec Premier François Legault to supply extra funding for housing, as asylum claimants find yourself staying in shelters as they wait for his or her claims to be processed.

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Chow has mentioned she will likely be pressured so as to add a six per cent property tax hike on prime of the ten.5 per cent hike she already has deliberate for town if the federal authorities doesn’t present $250 million.

Legault has referred to as on the federal government to supply $470 million to his province to cowl prices for earlier years with extra funding on prime of that. Miller mentioned $100 million of the $362.4 million will go to Quebec. He mentioned a quantity for Toronto has been determined, however he was not ready to disclose it but.

Legault has additionally demanded the federal government sluggish the variety of asylum claimants and ship extra folks to different components of the nation. Miller mentioned they’re engaged on methods to encourage claimants to maneuver to different locations in Canada, however they will’t pressure folks.

“We are able to’t deal with folks like cattle. They’ve their alternative of the place they go. They’ve rights once they get to this nation they usually get pulled in the direction of huge industrial facilities, together with Montreal and Toronto,” he mentioned.

Miller mentioned his authorities has offered $750 million since 2017 for housing to provinces and municipalities and at present rents 4,000 resort rooms throughout the nation to assist cope with the difficulty. He mentioned the federal government is doing what it might probably to answer a historic disaster as folks flee violence all around the world.

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“Folks world wide proceed to face crises that trigger them to flee their homelands. and Canada is considered one of many nations experiencing a major rise within the variety of folks taking a life altering step to searching for refuge at our borders,” he mentioned.

Authorities information exhibits the immigration division processed simply over 140,000 refugee claims final 12 months.

Miller mentioned housing claimants in shelters and resorts will not be a very good resolution, however is important to maintain folks protected.

“It’s very a lot a really costly stopgap measure, nevertheless it’s one of many issues that’s important within the context to maintain shelter over folks’s heads,” he mentioned. “It isn’t good. It’s removed from good and is in truth extra expensive than it actually needs to be.”

Miller mentioned welcoming asylum claimants is a joint accountability and never solely the accountability of the federal authorities.

“We have now a shared accountability with provinces and territories when it comes to welcoming folks which are coming to this nation and generally taking nice dangers to be right here and fleeing warfare despair”

Miller mentioned provinces have advised him worldwide college students are a provincial accountability the place he mustn’t intervene, however that asylum claimants are solely his accountability, one thing he finds ironic.

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“There’s no specific distinction within the nature of individuals crossing the border, aside from the truth that considered one of them is bringing $50,000 to $60,000 to an establishment and the asylum seeker typically is simply carrying their life financial savings, which is way lower than that.”

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