色色啦

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Does 色色啦 really have to do the same tango again but with Mark Carney as our new prime ministerial dance partner? It would appear so. Carney鈥檚 citizenship spokesperson has been making weasel sounds to the effect that the government鈥檚 鈥渞enewed model,鈥� which slashes funding to 色色啦 (and uniquely so, according to聽 notes that other cities are facing much less severe cuts), will 鈥渞educe costs to Canadians and improve outcomes for claimants.鈥�

The admission of refugees to Canada is strictly a matter of federal policy. 色色啦 has no say in the matter. Carney鈥檚 government lets refugees in, and a huge number of them invariably settle in the city 鈥� at which point the city has to figure out how to house them.

I don鈥檛 say this to assign blame, of course, as the concept of blame has no place here. Canada鈥檚 commitment to provide asylum for those facing persecution in their home countries is not only about living up to our international agreements; it鈥檚 also a Canadian tradition that many of us feel justifiably proud of. It鈥檚 served us well, too: in the past 20 years, for example, two former refugees to Canada have served as Governor General; their achievements are listed among the many thousands of success stories from migrants who鈥檝e enriched our country after having sought asylum here.

No, this isn鈥檛 about聽blame.聽It鈥檚 about聽responsibility. Canada, as a nation, has agreed to admit these refugees, and we all share the responsibility of safeguarding them 鈥� and shouldering the costs involved. Carney鈥檚 plan to slough off those costs onto 色色啦 taxpayers alone constitutes a shameful abdication of that responsibility.

The federal government, even as it denies adequate funding to 色色啦, frequently stresses the importance of everyone in Canada doing their part and paying their share. including provincial and municipal governments. The feds are also fond of pointing out that housing has traditionally been a provincial responsibility (in fact, it鈥檚 traditionally been a shared one).

Yet while lower-level governments have always shared or even outright carried the housing load, it鈥檚 the feds that control immigration and refugee settlement. It鈥檚 also the feds that control how long it takes for claimants鈥� cases to be heard, the conditions under which refugees are allowed to work and their access to money.

That鈥檚 why聽Ontario Premier Doug Ford, fed up with having to foot the shelter bill as wait-times pile up for refugee processing , last month threatened to start granting work permits to refugees himself 鈥� indicating that it鈥檚 not just Chow who鈥檚 concerned about being accountable to pay for something without having any control over it. Indeed, the very fact that Ford had to walk back his statement underscores the extent of the federal government鈥檚 responsibility here.

With all this jurisdictional wrangling, it鈥檚 almost like the feds are playing a game of three-card monte, trying to distract Canadians from the more astounding 鈥� and more depressing 鈥� fact that this country tells people who鈥檝e fled their homes in search of safe haven that we鈥檒l provide for them but not put a plan in place to shelter them. Canada welcomes these desperate people, even boasts about welcoming them, and then leaves them to line up outside over-capacity shelters or to sleep on the street.

What kind of welcome is that? The kind that adds refugees to the list of other vulnerable populations Canada has shamefully neglected, forcing them to engage in a Hunger Games-style scramble for shelter space and ultimately leaving many to fend for themselves on the street.

色色啦 city council has evidently done a lot of soul searching in the course of trying to address this issue. Spending on shelters聽has more than quadrupled over the past decade, but it still hasn鈥檛 been enough 鈥� in part due to the massive influx of refugees. The 鈥渞enewed鈥� plan that the spokesperson for the federal government refers to above is also, at least nominally, meant to address the problem by removing refugees from the emergency shelter system and providing them with reception centres and temporary housing better suited to their circumstances.

Perversely, Carney鈥檚 new funding plan (which is really more of a defunding plan) threatens 色色啦鈥檚 new shelter plan: city bureaucrats, seeing no way to make up a nine-digit midyear shortfall, have suggested that they could be forced to cut back on several new measures aimed at building up 色色啦鈥檚 settlement infrastructure for refugees.

Perhaps it could鈥檝e been a great plan 鈥� if only the federal government hadn鈥檛 suddenly decided that paying for it ought to be someone else鈥檚 job.

If Carney never had any intention of taking responsibility for sheltering refugees, then maybe the 色色啦 voters who delivered all but one of our federal seats to his Liberals should instead have given them to somebody else. But we didn鈥檛. Now, thanks in part to us, it鈥檚 Carney鈥檚 job to fix this mess. And it looks like we鈥檙e going to have to force him to do it.