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Community Organizations across Toronto Rally for “Shelter and Housing Now”
By Fred Alvarado Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE
On Friday July 28th, 2023, temporary shelter and supportive housing organizations along with community agencies serving refugees, social housing advocates, and City Councillor for Ward-10 Spadina-Fort York, Asuma Malik, rallied in front of Minister Chrystia Freeland’s Constituency Office located at 344 Bloor Street West calling on the federal government to fulfill their responsibilities and asked for affordable housing and shelter funding now.
They claim It’s time for the federal government to step up and address the refugee shelter and housing crisis in the city.
“Toronto is in a housing and shelter crisis and this week Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the federal government was not going to assist Toronto in addressing this crisis. This is unacceptable”, they said in a release.
They’re calling on the federal and other levels of government to:
* Adopt and build upon the 2019 City Refugee Action Plan, and specifically to establish a welcome centre that is co-funded by the provincial and federal governments.
* Ask all levels of government to work together to address the housing crisis so everyone has a safe place to live.
Progress Toronto, a not-for-profit organization that advocates and organizes for a more democratic, socially just, and progressive city, asked rally participants to call Canada’s new Minister of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller and demand that this government support refugees and African asylum seekers.
The rally was moderated by Donovan Hayden, a community organizer at Progress Toronto, and the speakers were:
* Diana Chan Mcnally, Community Organizer & frontline worker
* Manny Wong, Executive Director for Christie Refugee Welcome Centre
* Cristopher Nkambwe, Team Leader for the African Centre for African Refugees
* Francesca Allodi-Ross, Executive Director for Romero House
* Siu Mee Cheng, Executive Director for Street Haven
* Ahzan, Community organizer for the Migrant Rights Network
* Andria Babbington, President of the Toronto & York Labour District Council
* Asuma Malik, City Councillor for Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York.
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