Olivia Chow speaks during a press conference at Revivaltime Tabernacle Church, where refugees and asylum seekers took shelter last summer. The federal government and the city are continuing to lock horns over funding for shelter costs.
It’s the $200 million question: who should be covering the cost of sheltering refugee claimants and asylum seekers seeking a new life in Canada’s largest city?
That question lies at the heart of a public feud between government officials that erupted this week, the latest iteration of a years-long dispute between the city and federal administrations as Toronto struggles to manage demand for its shelters and other temporary spaces — from newcomers and non-newcomers alike.
Year after year this has become a waiting game, with city staff and elected officials pointing to holes in their operating budgets and Toronto’s legal obligation to balance the books.
But this year, as the city has been forced to turn away hundreds of desperate people a day from its shelter system,
Toronto sharpened its criticism — with budget chief Shelley Carroll vowing to pitch a six per cent “federal impacts levy” on top of a planned 10.5 per cent property tax hike if the feds don’t offer more money by February.
That provocation boiled over this week. As reported by the Star, Liberal MPs representing Toronto ridings were privately furious at Chow.
On Tuesday, Etobicoke Centre MP Yvan Baker accused the mayor of “lying” to Toronto residents about the federal supports offered — later saying he needed to safeguard federal tax dollars and that the city’s numbers had been changing.
“This can’t be a shakedown,” Baker told the Star.
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Disgraceful behaviour on Parliament Hill
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