Evidence of meeting #118 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was federal.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
—because right now the City of Toronto's claim is that there is a $65-million price tag to the surge that's being experienced this year.
12:50 p.m.
Carleton, CPC
Sorry, but with respect, Mr. Vaughan, our time is very limited.
12:50 p.m.
Carleton, CPC
You're responsible for housing. You're here to testify particularly on the illegal border crossers. Your government has made the decision to house these border crossers in hotels once they're evicted from dormitories.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
No. It was a joint decision by all three levels of government to do that.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
The City of Toronto has said that the cost pressure they're facing is in the area of $65 million. What they haven't done is break that down into families and individuals. It is families that are being housed in the student residences.
As to the use of hotels, we're now about 20 years down that road. Those costs have been folded into both the social service transfer and the HPS dollars, the $23 million a year that comes to the City of Toronto—
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
The trouble is that the breakdown on that population includes all families seeking shelter in Toronto, not just immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
Well, this is part of the reason why we need more split-out statistics, which the province has and is withholding from us, and which the city has and hasn't shared with the province.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
What we've said is that we accept that there is a federal responsibility and role here. We have a $40-billion housing program. The goal here is not simply to house people in hotels; it is to move people into proper housing.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal