In this episode, I sit down with Ontario's Social Development Minister Lisa McLeod to discuss the growing number of asylum seekers in Toronto's shelter system, and why she thinks they are not genuine refugees. I also speak with the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, about his views on the issue.
00:00:24.060Well, I'll tell you, the Toronto shelter system does not ask questions on the status of those who are seeking shelter in their system.
00:00:34.380So her department is lying when they say that there are 46% of people there?
00:00:36.820How would Lisa McLeod know who's accessing the system if the temporary housing shelter system in Toronto does not collect stats based on status?
00:00:47.560Wasn't John Tory also saying that, though, as well?
00:01:01.140The status of people seeking access to the shelter system in Toronto is unknown.
00:01:08.060Therefore, to put a number on that is simply not factual.
00:01:11.880So you're saying her department is not factual when they say that 46% of those occupants...
00:01:16.680I'm saying that it doesn't withstand scrutiny.
00:01:18.560And the record of Lisa McLeod speaks for itself.
00:01:21.280She has not engaged in our plan to engage with the city of Toronto to triage asylum seekers away from Toronto by regionalizing the issue so that we can have other cities step in to work together.
00:01:37.380Canadians expect all orders of government to work together when we have challenges.
00:01:42.080On the issue of asylum seekers, the federal government has stepped up.
00:01:45.580We've provided not only funding through the Canada Social Transfer, we've provided additional funding of $50 million, $11 million of which will go to Toronto and Ontario to deal with this issue.
00:01:57.520Now, we had a plan in place to work through Ontario and Toronto to conduct a triage system that will relieve pressure from the city of Toronto.
00:02:07.620The province of Ontario chose to walk away from that system.
00:02:31.140Instead, they've unfortunately decided to engage in fear-mongering and demonizing of asylum seekers, which is not what Canada is all about.
00:02:38.400Do you feel that John Tory also demonized asylum seekers?
00:02:40.920Because he raised the exact same concerns, to be fair.
00:02:43.120Well, I engaged Mayor Tory on that, and I told him that we will always be there for the city of Toronto.
00:02:49.660The difference between John Tory and Lisa McLeod is that Minister McLeod has called asylum seekers' names.
00:03:43.380Do you understand, though, the concern, and I understand it's a political issue between you and your government and the government in Ontario,
00:03:50.680but the idea that is being expressed that there is sort of, you know, there are services available, in Toronto specifically the shelter system,
00:04:02.660that they're saying, you know, critics are saying that your government's plan is not adequately working,
00:04:08.660that this is not a sustainable way to manage this issue?
00:04:13.640First of all, I would point those folks.
00:04:16.540It's fair to have concerns about asylum seekers.
00:04:20.420But the fact of the matter is the numbers have gone down 75 percent.
00:04:23.940So if our plan was not working, why are the numbers down 75 percent?
00:04:26.680Well, actually, the numbers are up this time.
00:04:29.680I'm talking about the numbers compared to last year.
00:04:35.060If you're talking year over year, there's actually more asylum seekers that have crossed into Canada this time this year compared to this time last year.
00:04:40.480What Canadians expect us to do is to work with all orders of government to make sure that when challenges present themselves,
00:04:48.760that we come up with solutions that each level of government is able to implement.