A city politician is urging her council colleagues to push the province and federal government for more funding to house asylum seekers in London, Ont.
A letter, written by Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman, was addressed to council members earlier this week, seeking their support to lobby other levels of government for resources to address the issue.
“Like other cities across Ontario, our shelters in London are dealing with unprecedented challenges including an influx in Asylum claimants,” she wrote. “These additional pressures on our shelters add to the beds’ shortage they experience every day. Asylum claimants have unique needs that the system must address.”
In her letter, which was co-signed by Mayor Josh Morgan, Rahman noted that Mission Services and the Cross Cultural Learners Centre (CCLC) have created a partnership to address the needs of asylum seekers that arrive in London. However, neither are funded to do so.
“CCLC is funded to support Government Assisted Refugees and Mission Services provides emergency shelter through the Men’s Mission and Rotholme Women’s and Family Shelter,” the letter reads.
Rahman said that in order to meet the settlement needs of those staying in local shelters, both organizations are seeking funding from the province through the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
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“They are looking to hire staff to provide settlement counselling, permanent housing, and job search support,” she wrote to council, adding that Mission Services is also offering their resource room to deliver these supports.
“It is important that the City of London and all levels of Government recognize how the influx of asylum seekers is hindering emergency shelters from serving their intended purpose,” Rahman wrote. “This is because these shelters lack sufficient programs to help asylum seekers transition out of overnight temporary housing, and newcomers don’t have the same access to programs.”
Rahman says newcomers are arriving in places like the GTA but are relocating to cities, such as London, to find a bed or place to stay, according to “anecdotal conversations” she’s had with community organizations.
“There’s been some really strong advocacy from councillors in Toronto and that their shelter system is overwhelmed by asylum claimants and refugees,” she said. “They were able very early to start discussions with the federal government about what pressures this was putting on the system.”
She added that shelter organizations are not the only ones seeing an increase in need for support.
In marking the first step in working towards providing additional resources, Rahman is seeking the support from her colleagues for two motions. The first is that city staff be required to report back on the impacts of Asylum claimants on the local shelter system to council.
“Based on the findings from the staff report, that staff apply if appropriate for Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) funding if necessary, to address the impacts on local shelters,” the motion reads.
The second motion proposes that the mayor “undertake immediate advocacy efforts” with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ontario Big City Mayors Caucus, and the provincial and federal governments.
Additionally, the motion is requesting that the mayor also write a letter on behalf of city council in support of the request for provincial funding by CCLC in collaboration with Mission Services to “support the hiring of staff in to provide additional supports for Asylum claimants.”
Global News reached out to mayor Josh Morgan for comment but did not receive one in time of publication.
“It’s a really early intervention to address what we’re seeing today,” Rahman told Global News. “I think that all of those together are a step in the right direction to help identify and provide the needed resources.”
The letter will be discussed at the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) meeting on Tuesday.
– with files from Global News’ Mike Stubbs.
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