THE Ontario Government on Monday said that the federal government’s policies, which allow thousands of illegal border crossers to enter Canada without following the appropriate processes, are having a negative impact on Ontario’s education system, its legal aid system, its social assistance system and its emergency shelter system.
“The current crisis with illegal border crossers is costing Ontario taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars for a situation we did not create,” said Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Lisa MacLeod.
Ontario’s costs to deliver services for illegal border crossers totals $200 million so far. This includes $74 million for temporary housing for the City of Toronto, $3 million for Red Cross and other supports for refugee claimants who stayed in college dorms this summer, $12 million for the City of Ottawa, $90 million in social assistance and $20 million for primary and secondary education spaces.
“The Government of Ontario believes that managing the influx of illegal border crossers is the federal government’s responsibility. We have asked the federal government to pay the $200 million that this is costing Ontario. They have come back to us with only $11 million. That is not acceptable,” added MacLeod.
The minister delivered this message to federal and provincial counterparts at a meeting of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Irregular Migration.