Mayor joins call for feds to help with refugees
Mayor Fred Eisenberger has suggested Hamilton cannot help with the refugee influx strapping Toronto’s shelter system.
According to the Toronto Star, of the 2,332 refugees living in overflow shelter arrangements in that city — in motels, hotels, college dormitories — more than half are children and youth.
About 800 of the migrants are staying in two dorms, at Centennial and Humber colleges, and will need to leave next month as students begin returning to school.
But Eisenberger told the Spectator that Hamilton has “limited ability to take in additional asylum seekers without triggering an emergency response.”
In an email, he stressed that while Hamilton “has been proud” to act as a home for refugees and asylum seekers, and will continue to “extend compassion and assistance to those who seek freedom and safety in our country,” the city’s shelter system is at capacity.
“Up to 50 per cent of the Family Centre occupancy is made up of newcomer families.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory has urged the federal government to offer emergency financial assistance to help alleviate the housing pressures.
“I join Mayor Tory,” Eisenberger’s added, “and welcome hearing from the prime minister that our federal partners will continue to support municipalities in meeting the needs of refugees in our community.”
Last weekend, Tory appeared at an event with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said that his government will “be there” to help.
Tory said he was “gratified” to hear from other mayors about discussing co-ordinating a response to the refugee influx, but he did not mention specific cities. The Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario held a conference call on the issue.
The federal government has cited figures showing that 9,481 migrants seeking asylum entered Canada between January and May, with most crossing illegally from the U.S. into Quebec, and also 10,600 refugee claimants entering legally.
In Hamilton, most of the refugees receiving help — legally, through a government-assisted program — have been from wartorn Syria, while others have come from countries such as Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. In 2016, the number of these refugees arriving in Hamilton from Syria spiked to 1,338, with an additional 326 coming from other countries. So far this year, the city has received about 300 government-assisted refugees, which is at a rate similar to the years prior to the Syrian influx that started in 2015.
A spokesperson with Wesley Urban Ministries, that helps resettle refugees, recently told the Spectator they are always looking for volunteers to help. Go to wesley.ca/volunteer.