One of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow‘s first acts in her new role was to reverse a city policy which had drawn widespread condemnation over the treatment of those fleeing conditions in their homelands, but months after the motion was passed, her office had to scramble to get staff to actually act on the motion passed by council months earlier.
Before Chow arrived at city hall, Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie announced the city’s position regarding asylum seekers would be to refer them to the federal government. With shelters already full and the city already housing thousands of refugees in the system, the calculus was the city could no longer pay for more new arrivals unless Ottawa would kick in more money.
While the federal government eventually ponied up tens of millions of dollars to solve the issue, city officials were raked over the coals following weeks of heart-wrenching sights and stories of refugees who were left out in the elements in front of a homeless intake centre.
Eventually, several Black-led churches took it upon themselves to provide temporary housing for the asylum seekers who are primarily from African nations. In the weeks that have followed, there have been further accusations that the lack of response from all levels of government was rooted in anti-Black racism.
At council’s July meeting, a motion put forward by Chow and passed by council directed city staff to end the policy of referring asylum seekers to refugee-specific locations and to grant access to shelters regardless of immigration status.
This week, it emerged the intake referral system hadn’t enacted the changes.
“Obviously this is egregious and it’s actually going against what we heard and our understanding, from my understanding the policy that was put in place,” said Diana Chan McNally, a community and harm reduction worker.
“I’d like to see this reversed immediately so that no one is refused a shelter bed,” she said.
Chow’s office itself appeared blindsided by the lack of action from city staff, although a spokesperson told Global News if a refugee had arrived at a shelter in person, they wouldn’t have been denied a space if there was one.
Still, on Friday the mayor’s office worked with staff to ensure the changes were made. In a statement to Global, Mayor Chow appeared satisfied staff had gotten the message.
“I have spoken with City Staff and they will now ensure refugees can access available emergency shelter space through central intake, as per my motion at council,” said Chow in an email. But Chow warned the system remains stretched thin and the federal government needs to provide more money.
The mayor’s office said there are 3,418 refugee claimants in the shelter system, including 1,418 in the non-refugee shelter system. In June, the number staying in non-refugee shelters was 899, and the rate at which people arriving doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Chan McNally said there should be more urgency to correct the issue with winter on the way, noting many of those who remain without shelter have never experienced cold temperatures, which will soon arrive.
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