Image via flickr / mariacasa
The last week offered two notable City Hall stories. The first is commendable, the second has some stink around it.
Sanctuary City:
Toronto will be the first in Canada to become a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. Council voted to take steps towards creating an “access without fear” climate, so these residents can be assured of accessing municipal services –public health, shelters, and food banks, among others–without fearing their lack of legal status will get them deported. Currently, the city does not require any showing of documentation when accessing these things, so in a way nothing has changed. But in practice lingering paranoia prevents people who need these things from getting them, even though they frequently do contribute by paying property tax through rent, HST through sales tax, and some forms of income tax. This fear also makes them unwilling to come forward as witnesses or victims of crimes. They don’t pay other taxes and cannot (and nobody is saying they should) access provincial and federal benefits–Ontario Works, government housing, OHIP, all income security.
It’s the city’s way of saying, essentially, “federal government: if you’re going to deport them, deport them, but once they’re inside our city we’re not going to let them rot.” Deportation is under federal jurisdiction, not municipal, so the city can’t legally deport them if they wanted to. Perhaps this is why council was so united, voting 37-3.
The Star article above cited an estimate of about 200,000 illegal immigrants in Toronto. It explains that many arrived here legally but their visas expired, or some failed to gain refugee status. The underground nature of it makes the statistics murky. Migrant advocates prefer the euphemism “undocumented worker,” to illegal immigrant. Like so many euphemisms today, it’s dreadful. First off, this sounds like a synonym for tax evader, but more to the point the stigma from “illegal immigrants” can’t be removed if the term disappears. Better people recognize that illegal immigrants are often good hardworking people who just don’t have certain papers in order.
Councillor Minnan-Wong, the son of an immigrant and a former immigration lawyer, voted decidedly against the motion. “Their first stop is the welfare office. They already know the address because they’ve been told back home where to go.” He believes this is effectively a magnet for illegal immigrants who would take advantage of our generosity. No doubt such people exist. But his view is focused not just on the most exploitative immigrant imaginable, but on the ones who don’t live here yet. Barring them from entering isn’t only extremely difficult in practice, it isn’t the city’s job, as noted above. Also, and this can’t really be said enough, the vast bulk of immigrants aren’t parasites.
This brings Toronto in line with Chicago, New York, and over 30 other American cities.
Ford/Magder saga:
The courts and Mayor Ford have yielded a fresh absurdity. The backstory: a Superior Court judge ruled Ford breeched the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act by voting on an issue in which he had a financial stake, $3,150 he solicited for his football charity. Then he won the appeal on grounds that council never had the authority to ask him to repay the money in the first place. Not a meaningful vindication, but a crucial technicality. Now it gets interesting.
Paul Magder, the veritable eagle who begins each day with a descent on Mayor Prometheus’ liver, hired Clayton Ruby, who generously worked pro bono. But having now unexpectedly lost the case Magder finds he may owe Rob Ford’s legal team $116,000. Clayton Ruby defended his client: “[Magder] was acting on behalf of those many Torontonians who were concerned about Rob Ford’s reckless behaviour as mayor. Paul does not deserve a costs award against him, he deserves an award for his act of citizenship.”
If we are to believe this, that Magder is essentially a disinterested but devoted watchdog, we’d have to believe that Magder could just as easily have voted Ford, it’s just that any breach to Magder, no matter how petty, offended his conscience and his unswerving devotion to justice compelled him to sue. Meanwhile, the rest of us uncaring schleps couldn’t even muster the civic duty to sue our mayor. That’s a lot to swallow. But that’s what impartial courts are for.
There’s some poetic justice in Magder potentially facing the legal costs of all this, though most likely he won’t and neither will Ford; the City of Toronto has insurance covering council’s legal fees in the event that in the course of duty they get sued. The irony is merciless. Ford, Magder, taxpayer: a fiery love triangle where the first two parties show their devotion to the third by burdening them with lawyer fees. Over $100,000. And don’t forget, not only was this started over $3,150, but this was meant to be a pro bono case.
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Jeff Halperin is a Toronto-based writer. You can follow him on Twitter @JDhalperin.
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