Dozens of refugees bused to North York church after sleeping on downtown sidewalk for weeks

A growing group of refugees who’ve spent several days living on the sidewalk outside a downtown shelter office have finally been moved indoors — albeit temporarily.

Advocates have stepped in to transport the mostly African asylum seekers to a pair of churches in North York. The group was loaded on to several buses on Monday night and brought to Revivaltime Tabernacle on Dufferin Street, south of Finch.

A growing group was camped out at the corner of Peter and Richmond streets outside the city’s shelter intake office, and it included some who were sleeping on the pavement for several weeks. The group was finally able to be moved to a shelter thanks to community organizers and volunteers, including the founder of Paramount Fine Foods Mohamad Fakih, who pledged money to assist in housing the refugees.

“We came here two days ago, I came to drop off food but I realized the situation is much bigger than just food,” said Fakih on Monday night, as the group was being loaded onto four school buses. “What they needed is a roof above their head.”

Related:

• Advocates claim racism as African asylum seekers forced to sleep on sidewalk

In addition to fundraising to cover the costs of housing, Fakih said he was donating $20,000 of his own money. He says a number of organizations, including advocates from the city’s Black community, have come forward and contributed to the temporary housing solution.

“If the government is not ready to step in and help, there are great people in this city who can help,” he says.

Pastor Judith James at Revivaltime Tabernacle says the more than 200 refugees were relieved to get a proper meal and a shower after weeks of living on the street.

“They wanted food, they were hungry. We were grateful we were able to feed them,” said James early Tuesday morning, noting most of the group was still sleeping after a long night.

She says she is hopeful the church can accommodate the asylum seekers for weeks, if need be, but calls it a band-aid solution and says officials need to come up with a permanent option.

“We’re hoping the right people will step up and put them in proper housing,” says James.

Government officials set to meet to discuss next steps

Officials from all three levels of government will meet Tuesday to discuss the next steps in resolving the crisis, according to Toronto mayor Olivia Chow.

“All parties have agreed to bring specific actions for space and resources to a senior operations and crisis management table,” said Olivia Chow in a statement following an emergency meeting on Friday between senior city staff and deputy ministers from the provincial and federal governments.

The city has been turning away refugees and asylum seekers from its at-capacity shelters since June, referring them to federal programs and arguing they need more money from Ottawa to accommodate the influx. Chow pressed Ottawa for an additional $160 million last week, calling the crisis a federal responsibility.

On Tuesday, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser confirmed Ottawa has approved an additional $210 million in funding into the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP), of which $97 million will go to the City of Toronto.

The federal government said Friday that the responsibility of housing and support for asylum seekers lies with provinces and municipalities. The Ontario government has claimed Ottawa was “underfunding” the province by $480 million for housing and homelessness.

“The idea of arguing of who is going to pay for it, you move first the human beings, and then you decide who is going to pay for it,” says Fakih, calling the government bickering “unacceptable.”

“There’s 500 more refugees coming to our country next year. We have to be ready and we have to learn from our previous experiences.”

Meanwhile, advocates have issued an open letter, calling for the immediate resignation of the general manager of the City of Toronto’s Shelter Support and Housing Administration (SSHA).

The group says it is speaking out as a result of the refugee housing crisis and mismanagement of the city’s shelter system. It says the city’s denial of shelter to refugees is a direct violation of Toronto’s Sanctuary City police and it “perpetuates a xenophobic narrative.”

The letter calls on Chow to fire general manager Gord Tanner if he does not resign.