The Trudeau open arms program.
Via TNC:
Syrian man staying at a taxpayer-funded hotel in downtown Toronto was living safely in Chicago for four years, but told True North that he came to Canada because “the US is a disaster, they don’t help at all — nothing.”
The man and his family crossed the border illegally at Roxham Road in rural Quebec and made their way to Toronto, where, according to the man, they now receive “five star” treatment compared to when living in America.
He is staying at the Studio 6 hotel in downtown Toronto.
“They provide everything. It’s good. Compared to U.S., it’s five star,” he says of the hotel, which offers refugee claimants cleaning services, telephone, WiFi, cable, laundry machines and a monthly food allowance of $600 for his family. Hotel units also include kitchenettes. […]
Located in Little Italy, right next to ChinaTown in downtown Toronto, Studio 6 is on a rundown block surrounded by apartment complexes and dilapidated homes. Wander a few blocks in any direction, however, and you’ll find million dollar condos and some of Toronto’s most upscale and posh neighbourhoods.
This week, the National Bank of Canada put out a report saying it’s now cheaper to rent than buy in major Canadian cities like Toronto for the first time in years. A prime example of the out-of-control real estate prices can be found only 151 lots away from Studio 6, on 14 Grange Avenue, where a “tiny Toronto shack” covered in graffiti just went up for sale at a listing price of $2.5 million.
A steady stream of newcomers into the city ensures an insatiable demand for housing in Toronto. (Some real estate experts also believe money laundering from China and elsewhere is another contributing factor for the sky high prices in Vancouver and Toronto.)
Before coming to Canada five months ago, the Syrian man, his wife and two young children lived in Chicago for four years after fleeing the civil war ravaging his country and devastating his former home city of Damascus. In Chicago, the man was an Uber driver but said living there was a constant struggle because they weren’t given anything from the U.S. government.
Eventually the man decided to take his family and illegally cross the border into Canada through Roxham Road, using the loophole that allows refugee claimant’s to bypass the safe third country agreement, which is supposed to force refugee claimants to make a claim and stay in the first safe country they enter.
Now, they’re living on the taxpayer’s dime — staying comfortably at the Studio 6 hotel for months at a time.
HT: BCF