Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the federal government should give asylum seekers work permits immediately after they arrive in the country. Nearly 5,500 asylum seekers have been transferred from Quebec to Ontario since last June.
The leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government says he wants to take care of these people and create jobs for them. “These people break my heart. They come here to have a better life,” Ford said at a press conference.
Three-quarters of them were transported to Cornwall, near the Quebec border, and to Niagara Falls, which now says it needs the hotel rooms in which they are staying for the tourist season. “We should disperse people in the province,” said the premier of Ontario.
Affordable housing options are limited for asylum seekers, a problem that Doug Ford seems to want to partly address through the construction of new homes. During the last election campaign, his government pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years. The province has also amended several laws in recent months to speed up the process.
“These people need homes. And that’s not counting the 450,000 people who arrive each year,” commented Doug Ford, referring to the 431,645 new permanent residents welcomed by Canada last year. About 40% of them settled in Ontario.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.
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