Open Letter to Toronto City Councillor Rob Ford
July 14, 2005
March 13, 2003
City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite C40
Toronto, ON
M5H 2N2
Dear Councillor Ford,
Your outrageous comment that Toronto should be declared a “refugee-free” zone, as reported in the Toronto Sun on Wednesday, March 12, 2003, shows a complete ignorance of the history of this city, the composition of its’ population, and initiatives taken by the Municipal government of Toronto to address the needs of refugees and immigrants.
Among those initiatives is the City of Toronto Working Group on Immigrants and Refugees, chaired by Councillor David Miller. Your uninformed remarks have only served to diminish the efforts of the City’s own Working Group which is in the process of addressing access and equity issues in the integration of refugees and immigrants in Toronto.
The City of Toronto has a history of welcoming refugees, as evident from a decade-long tradition in hosting Refugee Rights Day and in issuing an annual proclamation on April 4, in commemoration of the Singh decision. The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) would also like to remind you that Canada is a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees. Canadian values celebrate diversity, and respect and welcome refugees.
The present crisis at entry-points along the Canada-US border nearest to Toronto can increase demands on the resources of cities such as Toronto. However, restricting access to refugees is hardly the solution, and smacks of racial profiling and worse.
Your remarks on refugees are not helpful in a climate where refugees are being unfairly portrayed as a potential security threat, and can only serve to criminalize an already persecuted population.
Your remarks have diminished all Toronto residents and must be withdrawn immediately. OCASI demands that you make in immediate apology in Council.
Sincerely,
Debbie Douglas
Executive Director
Cc: Toronto City Councilors