Managing the refugee crisis
Demands teamwork and time
You don’t have to be bigoted or xenophobic to be very concerned about when and how Canada is managing the influx of asylum seekers trickling across our borders. Many complaining about it are those things. And some others are expressing their concern for other reasons, but deep down their concerns are rooted in those negative and destructive attributes.
But the truth is we do have a problem. It’s not a crisis yet, but it could become one. Cities, Toronto at the forefront, are at capacity dealing with asylum seekers. Shelter beds are full. Alternative facilities are being seconded, including college and university dorms that will be needed for students in just a few weeks.
The problem isn’t that these people, displaced from points all over the globe and now feeling unwelcome and threatened in the United States, are seeking asylum in Canada. Our immigration laws, systems and resources are set up to allow and even welcome people making claims for refugee status.
The problem is supply and demand. Donald Trump’s increasingly xenophobic policies are forcing people north. Canada has a long, largely unprotected, border and a reputation as welcoming. And notwithstanding the claims of some of our xenophobes, Canada has lots of capacity to settle all the legitimate refugee claimants - unapproved claimants in Ontario now number about 5,500.
No, the problem isn’t our ability or capacity. It’s our systems, resources and money. We’re set up to deal with refugee claimants, but not this many, and not all at the same time. Processing times are supposed to be a couple of months. Right now the backlog is as long as two years.
So, what’s the simple solution? Invest in immigration staffing and resources, at least until the situation stabilizes. All levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal - should work together to make sure refugee claims are dealt with in a fair and timely manner.
People whose claims are accepted can then be assisted to find permanent settlement, perhaps in parts of the country where employers are crying out for lack of human resources. Northern Ontario is a good example, where jobs are going unfilled and productivity is suffering. That’s according to employers themselves, who were bemused when, during the provincial election campaign, Doug Ford said locals should have first claim at job vacancies before new arrivals. The point is there aren’t enough locals to fill those jobs, so new arrivals would be welcome. That Ford didn’t know that then and probably still doesn’t is disturbing, but that’s for another day.
And those whose claims are denied would be humanely and respectfully allowed to go back to their own country or another safe destination.
Of course, this is all too common sense.
Ontario and federal officials are busy name-calling and offending each other. Municipal leaders don’t have the authority to solve these problems themselves. They want help soon, and their senior cousins are too busy fighting.
Book a room. Get adequate sustenance. Close the doors, sit down and get to work on a collective solution, before this problem gets out of hand.
Enough with the insults and hurt feelings. Do as Ontarians and all Canadians expect. Do your jobs.