Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Toronto: Mayor John Tory says the city can’t afford to follow its usual practice of requesting a staff report and seeking council approval when it comes to helping Syrian refugees who arrive in Toronto.
Tory made the comment to reporters following a one-hour meeting with inter-faith leaders on Thursday, in which attendees discussed ways the city can help with the Syrian refugee crisis.
According to Tory, the leaders came up with a number of workable ideas during the meeting, including a housing registry where people could offer up spare bedrooms on a temporary basis, another registry where people could offer their time or other non-monetary goods like furniture and a backup insurance fund that could be used when private donors are unable to provide money or support to a refugee they had agreed to sponsor.
“Our focus was on what we can do as a city, as a community but also as a city government because the city government has a lot to do in terms of things that can help people settle productively, peacefully and become the kinds of contributing citizens they want to be,” Tory said. “We can’t take the time to wait for the executive committee and wait for the report. Rather we must get on with asking people to establish some of these things because they can be done relatively expeditiously and at very little cost.”
The United Nations has estimated that as many as 3 million Syrians have fled the country since the beginning of the refugee crisis and though Tory said there is little he can do as mayor to ensure those refugees are granted asylum in Canada, he said there is plenty he can do to help those that do arrive in the city get established.
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has previously said that 1,285 refugees have been approved to come to Canada since the start of the refugee crisis
“I will confine myself to doing what we can (at the city) to make sure that if other people do what they are supposed to be doing we can welcome these people and make sure they can get integrated successfully into our city and live a good life here,” Tory said. “I think the scope of this crisis is such that we all should be turning our minds to what we can do better and faster.”
In January, Alexander vowed to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada over the next three years. Meanwhile, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has said that Canada should immediately accept 10,000 Syrian refugees and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has advocated bringing 25.000 Syrian refugees to the country as soon as possible.
