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Melissa Duggan
It’s not the welcome newcomers to Canada were expecting this summer looking for a better life. Instead, they found themselves sleeping on the streets of the country’s biggest city. Toronto’s Peter Street shelter intake office was thrust into the national spotlight after June 1st. That’s when the city dealing with an already overwhelmed shelter system started referring refugees and asylum seekers to federally run programs. But when people in need showed up to the Peter Street site, they were met with long waits, forcing them to stay on the sidewalk for weeks, with no other place to go.
Now community leaders are taking matters into their own hands, helping move some of the unhoused people to GTA churches, and hours after they stepped up. The federal government announced more than $200 million in support nationally to fund interim housing for asylum seekers, with about half going to Toronto. But will this last minute funding make a difference? And what will it take to create sustainable housing for asylum seekers in Toronto and beyond?
I’m Melissa Duggan in for Jordan Heath-Rawlings. And this is The Big Story. Sharry Aiken is an associate professor specializing in immigration and refugee law at Queen’s University Faculty of Law. She’s also on the board of the FCJ refugee center in Toronto. Hi, Sharry.
Sharry Aiken
Good morning, Melissa.
Melissa Duggan
And good morning is right. We’re talking on Tuesday morning. And there’s a sense that this is really coming to a head. So how did we get to this moment? And why has the lack of housing become such an issue across the country right now? Especially considering what we’ve been seeing at Peter Street in Toronto?
Sharry Aiken
Well indeed, we are in the midst of a national housing crisis that affects 1000s of people across the country, not just refugees and asylum seekers. Right. So I mean, that is a frame in relation to the problem you’ve just raised. But in terms of asylum seekers, in particular, hundreds of them sleeping on the sidewalk in downtown Toronto, there’s a very specific set of circumstances that led to this crisis. And it’s, frankly, a failure on the part of all three levels of government that that need to be held accountable for it. I guess I I’d start, first of all with a very wide lens and say that globally, the numbers of people who’ve been forced to flee, are at an all time high. At the end of just last year, there were over 35 million refugees around the world, and 5.4 million asylum seekers, those numbers are unprecedented. So it shouldn’t be surprising in light of that, that Canada is actually experiencing a surge of refugee claimants right now, in relation to what’s going on in the world. Indeed, the vast majority of people who are fleeing persecution right now come from just three countries, and they’re all countries that have been repeatedly in the news over the last few years. It’s Syria. It’s Ukraine, and it’s Afghanistan. Right. Those are the top three sources of asylum seekers right now. And we can throw Sudan into the mix. And understand that we’re dealing with an unprecedented crisis right now, and one that shows no signs of abating anytime soon. But having said that, it’s important to realize that Canada shares only a tiny fraction of responsibility for this population. Indeed, some 76% of asylum seekers remain and so called transit countries or neighboring countries, generally low to middle income countries very far from Canada. So the biggest host countries for asylum seekers right now are Turkey, Iran, Colombia, Germany and Pakistan. Canada, by virtue of its geography is a hard place to reach. So we’re not getting millions of people at our doorstep. We’re getting 1000s. And in terms of Toronto share, we’re getting hundreds. And the problem is that it’s a numbers that are greater than the shelter system that has traditionally served this population can absorb. But this should have been planned for, right it’s not as though these numbers surge, all of a sudden, unexpected In June, the numbers have been rising steadily for the past couple of years. And certainly in the last year, the budget as accounted for at the municipal level was simply not enough to serve the needs. And what should have happened was emergency resolutions, and emergency measures taken to absorb the population of asylum seekers that have arrived in Toronto. That didn’t happen. In fact, the exact opposite happened, the City of Toronto, shut its doors in June, threw up his hands and said, it’s not our problem. And I think, frankly, that’s unconscionable. I’m reasonably optimistic that with a new mayor at the helm, there will be a solution that involves the city taking more proactive measures.
Melissa Duggan
So before what we’re seeing right now, Sharry, what has been the process for people seeking asylum here in Canada?
Sharry Aiken
So depending on where they arrived, right, because every every port of entry has its own constellation of services. But if we’re talking about things here in Ontario, typically Toronto would be the main gateway where asylum seekers would land either because they arrived by air in the first place through Pearson, or they arrived via a land crossing and found their way to Toronto. But either way, they would be directed to the shelter reception office on Peter Street, where they would be referred to appropriate short term housing. And that’s indeed where people have been going. But unlike in the past, where people would then be referred to temporary housing, because our shelter system is strained to the max, they’re no longer getting referrals, and they’ve been camped out literally sleeping on the sidewalk in front of that office.
Melissa Duggan
You said earlier that the surging number of refugees and asylum seekers around the world is really coming as no surprise. So why did it seem to catch governments here in Canada by surprise?
Sharry Aiken
Oh, well, that’s a good question. I think it’s a lack of planning. And I think the same could be said in previous years in relation to how various levels of government responded to rising numbers. For example, when President Trump took office in the United States, there was a surge in the numbers of border crossings into Canada at the time, as people were fleeing President Trump’s executive orders that had particularly deleterious impact on on people seeking asylum and wanting to have their claims adjudicated in the United States. So we saw a rise in numbers, it was entirely predictable. And yet the government was caught short without adequate numbers of decision makers at the refugee protection division. And it took quite some time to catch up with the appointments. I mean, these are planning processes. And it’s important that every level of government, including decision making structures, have an eye on what’s going on internationally, have an eye on the numbers reaching Canada and make sure that adequate provisions have been made. And whether we’re talking about shelter spaces on arrival, or we’re talking about adjudicators to actually help process asylum claims, it’s very much the same kind of issue.
Melissa Duggan
I think a lot of us are thinking right now about what it must be like for these asylum seekers for these refugees landing here in Canada and finding that this is waiting for them. I wonder what you’ve been hearing from people who are seeking asylum here, making their way to Canada, only to find out that they have nowhere to go.
Sharry Aiken
People are shocked as they should be. I think it’s important to recognize that at least here in Toronto, a coalition of of black LED community organizations have banded together and actually just last night, stepped in to offer short term emergency shelter into local churches. And bus loads of people were transported last night to a warm bed and a and a warm shower. But that’s community groups stepping up in and certainly as has been reported, they don’t have the the resources or the capacity to be playing this role over the medium to long term. They need governments to step in and specifically the city. It’s simply not acceptable for the city to be shutting his stores. The city has the capacity to open up emergency beds. We’ve done it in the past when there have been housing crisis is now is the time to act and certainly find the money and it’s up to absolutely the federal government to step in with more funding. But that’s not an excuse. To do nothing or to allow people to sleep on the streets in the meantime.
Melissa Duggan
We’re also seeing criticism about the way these particular asylum seekers and refugees are being treated. Most of them are from African countries. How does that play a role?
Sharry Aiken
Well, I think it’s a very important dimension of the current problem, and I’m very glad you raised it. So let’s consider a stark counterpoint. The numbers of refugees fleeing from Ukraine over the last two years since the conflict erupted, has been unprecedented. And Canada responded with an unprecedented policy response, namely an emergency program that created a virtual air bridge from Ukraine to Canada, for 1000s of people to come to Canada temporarily with their family members. And not only that, we’ve announced this temporary airbridge becoming permanent, with the opportunity for any of the people who arrived on a temporary basis to actually regularize their status and become permanent residents. This was done very swiftly, in a very coordinated way with all levels of government, and included emergency support for shelter, food, and basic allowances until people could get on their feet. All of that was coordinated very swiftly and very effectively. And indeed, I hold it up as a positive example of what happens when governments work well together. Contrast that, with the response to the asylum seekers that we’re seeing right now in Toronto, who are primarily black Africans. And what has been the response, all three levels of government have been willing to sit on their hands and point the finger to each other, and have allowed people to sleep on the street. The stark difference in treatment is just confounding, frankly, and really reinforces the extent to which systemic racism continues to inform policy responses at all levels of government. There’s no other way to read it. And while it may not have been the intention of Deputy Mayor McKelvey, when the doors were shut in June, that has been the effect. And and I think it’s absolutely the case that there must be accountability for this. It’s shameful.
Melissa Duggan
With your work on the board of the FCJ refugee center, what are the immediate needs people have when they come here?
Sharry Aiken
Well, the very most immediate need is is a roof over their head and food on their dinner plate that is for sure on everyone’s minds. Beyond that refugee families arriving with young children need support for their children need help getting them into school or childcare centers. And certainly medical needs are often high on the list, particularly for asylum seekers who’ve arrived via perilous journeys, often with medical needs not met, many asylum seekers are experiencing trauma and require counselling and supports to address that. So there’s a really a constellation of fairly critical needs that need to be met right off the mark, and more medium term, it’s support to access the labor market, right, and to put to use the skills and training that they’ve brought with them. And that’s something that you know, Canada has historically done quite well with in terms of providing a constellation of settlement supports. But it’s often been uneven in relation to the extent to which asylum seekers can access those supports. So we’ve tended to focus those services on people who’ve arrived as economic immigrants, and restricted access to some of the training programs, for example, for asylum seekers with the idea that until they actually have their status resolved, you know, they shouldn’t be included in some of these other programs. And of course, the problem with that is it’s meanwhile sometimes wasting months and years of people’s lives, before they actually get the needed supports to get effectively their careers re launched.
Melissa Duggan
So we are seeing this patchwork of help, you know, these community leaders coming out providing pizza dinners, some breakfast for people in need, it can’t be up to them to figure this out. So whose obligation is it to provide the supportive housing?
Sharry Aiken
Well, the money needs to come from the federal government, right? Absolutely. The funding level responsibility is federal, but the provision of services happens on the ground at the city level at the municipal level. And what I’m suggesting esting is the onus is on the city to coordinate with both the province and the federal government and get the funding they need. But it’s not acceptable to simply say, well, we don’t have the money. So we’re closing our doors, what they need to do is provide the shelter and get the money. Right, you can’t play with people’s lives as pawns. In the meantime, you can’t suggest that asylum seekers who fled persecution in their home country should be sleeping on our sidewalks. That’s just not an acceptable policy response.
Melissa Duggan
Especially I’m thinking to your saying these aren’t overwhelming numbers. It’s not 1000s of people that we’re getting here. Why can’t we just handle hundreds?
Sharry Aiken
Indeed. That’s exactly the question. I mean, certainly, overall numbers of refugee claimants in Canada have been rising steadily over the last couple of years, we can see that, we can see that, for example, the numbers of claims initiated at the Immigration and Refugee Board really started to rise in 2017. And typically, you know, these surges in Canada happen in correlation with what’s going on in the world, but often not necessarily immediately. So if we look at their numbers internationally, they started surging in 2012. And it actually took several years before Canada started to see the pressure of of global migration on its own doorstep. But it’s really to point out that these numbers have been rising here in Canada for at least several years. And what we’re talking about is still relatively small, contained numbers in relation to the size and scale of our country. So it makes it all the more shocking, that we have people sleeping on the sidewalk on Peter Street.
Melissa Duggan
Something else I’m thinking about is we’re speaking during a time of a global Heatwave, you know, especially in countries that don’t normally experience hot, hot conditions. You know, this brings up the idea of climate refugees, we’re going to see more movement going forward. How can Canada be better prepared to accept people in need going forward?
Sharry Aiken
You’re right to point to climate migration. I will say though, that we’re not going to be on the front end of that crisis just because of geography. And also, because the Canadian government just took the step of extending the Canada us Safe Third Country Agreement across the entire shared border between our two countries, which means that with limited exceptions, any asylum seeker arriving in the United States first will be required to initiate their asylum claim they’re in won’t be permitted to come into Canada. So we’re insulated by our geography. And we’re also unfortunately insulated by the extension of this new protocol just this last spring, which will make it virtually impossible for the majority of asylum seekers to actually enter Canada in the first place. So in some ways, we’re a little bit insulated from the immediate migration pressures, the places in the world where refugees are fleeing, because their land is disappearing under the sea, for example, are quite far away from Canada at this time, you know, certainly 50 years from now another generation from now, I think the situation will look very different. And I think all the countries in the world are going to have to coordinate very closely to manage what is likely to be a surging crisis, but I don’t think it’s on our doorstep quite yet.
Melissa Duggan
Okay, so while we may be isolated from the climate refugee crisis, we’re not isolated from an affordability crisis. And that’s what so many Canadians are experiencing right now. Absolutely. And so I’m thinking of people who might be listening, who think, Hey, I can’t afford my rent, I can’t afford my mortgage, you know, and then we’re going to help these people who are new to Canada that aren’t able to get their own housing. How does that make sense?
Sharry Aiken
Yes, well, I would start the same way I explain these things, when I’m actually teaching refugee law to my students, with the fact that there is an international legal framework that imposes obligations on governments in relation to asylum. And while we don’t necessarily have to offer a permanent home to everyone who knocks on our door, we do have an obligation as a signatory to the 1951 refugee convention to facilitate the processing of asylum claims for people who arrive at our doorstep and to ensure that people are supported through that process and that means ensuring people have access to having their basic needs met and and typically in the Canadian context that has meant providing short term shelter and a pathway to more long term housing, and the ability to work through providing work permit so that once people actually have the papers in hand, they can get work. And they’re not in the shelter system in the medium to long term. But certainly until all that paperwork is is completed, there is a need for short term housing, and we have a legal obligation, I would argue, to provide it as we do have a responsibility with respect to our own citizens and residents in this country. You know, not far from from where I live, there’s an encampment of people who are entirely unhoused, and in dire need of social supports and not getting it. So it’s a massive crisis in Canada right now, that’s touched many people’s lives. But I would suggest that the way forward is not by playing off different segments of the population against each other governments have a responsibility to 10 to the welfare of everyone physically present in this country, regardless of their legal status, or the title of their their status.
Melissa Duggan
And outside of the legal obligation. What do refugees and asylum seekers bring to Canada because we do want to bring more people to our country?
Sharry Aiken
Indeed, Canada has set itself very ambitious immigration targets for the coming years, the next three year plan, in particular, out of a recognition that immigration is the fuel of Canada’s economic engine, and produces a net economic benefit. And refugees are part of that story. Although they arrive as refugees, they stay as immigrants, right and over the medium to long term contribute far more to Canada than they actually use in initial supports and services. But it’s critical in terms of supporting their pathway to success, that adequate supports are offered at the front end, that’s the only way people can actually hope to establish themselves and settle long term. So what I guess your question is raising is the inextricable link between arriving as a refugee and ultimately remaining as an immigrant and contributing to Canada.
Melissa Duggan
This is such a fluid situation right now. We’re getting new updates constantly from the different levels of government, how they’re now going to step up, because people across Canada know the term Peter Street now. I’m wondering what your reaction is to some of this last minute funding announcements we just heard from the federal government, they’re stepping up with more than $200 million, about half of that going to Toronto?
Sharry Aiken
Well, that’s welcome news. And I would say, you know, it’s unfortunate that it took the amount of media attention and community organizing that it did in order for this announcement to be made, but better late than never. It’s very welcome news.
Melissa Duggan
So what do we do going forward? How can this be a more stable situation? How can the different levels of government not be caught off guard by people who are just looking for a safer place to be?
Sharry Aiken
Well, I think it’s critical that at the municipal level, the appropriate city staff are engaged in conversations with their counterparts, provincially and federally, and that there’s a table for everyone to meet at. And, you know, my understanding is that table has likely existed in the past, I can’t really account for what fell apart this past spring. I’m not sufficiently insider to the municipal politics and municipal landscape to be able to offer an opinion on that, but I can’t say it obviously broke down somewhere. And the way forward is to open those lines of communication and to ensure the federal government which does have its eye on international numbers and arrivals at a national level, is communicating with both provincial and municipal counterparts to ensure that the adequate funding levels needed in the right places are made available.
Thank you so much for joining us, Sharry.
Sharry Aiken
It was my pleasure, Melissa, thank you.
Melissa Duggan
Sharry Aiken is an associate professor specializing in immigration and refugee law at Queen’s University Faculty of Law. That was The Big Story. For more had to The Big Story. podcast.ca want to weigh in, share your feedback at The Big Story FPN on Twitter, email Hello at TheBigStorypodcast.ca or leave a voicemail by calling 416-935-5935 The Big Story is available wherever you get your podcasts and on a smart speaker by asking you to play The Big Story podcast. Thanks for listening. I’m Melissa Duggan in for Jordan.
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