Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has saddled Toronto Mayor John Tory with a “mess” when it comes to accommodating asylum seekers, warns Premier Doug Ford.In his first official meeting with Tory at Queen’s Park, Ford on Monday blasted Ottawa for its handling of the recent influx of irregular asylum seekers in Toronto, calling them “illegal border-crossers that were put on the backs of the city.”“The mayor is in a very tough … spot trying to get funding,” said the premier, who was sworn in on June 29.That was a reference to the strain on resources due to asylum seekers entering Canada from the United States, a crisis triggered by President Donald Trump’s policies on migrants.“The province and the city are spending a fortune and the person that created this mess, we haven’t seen any funding,” said Ford, referring to Trudeau.“Hopefully it’s coming, we hear it’s coming. We’ll wait and see.”Those were the rookie premier’s first public comments since his contentious meeting with Trudeau on the issue last Thursday at Queen’s Park.The mayor, for his part, was more measured, noting he was “discussing some of the pressures that we’re facing in our shelter system as a result of the refugee and asylum claimants.”Tory, who met with Trudeau separately on Friday, said he was “absolutely confident” he could work with Ford on these issues “because it’s in our mutual interest to do so.” As first disclosed by the Star, Ford stunned the federal government last week by signalling the province was stepping back from any role in alleviating the migrant crisis.That decision sparked a withering salvo from the prime minister.“It didn’t seem to me that the premier was quite as aware of our international obligations to the UN Convention on Refugees as he might have been,” Trudeau told reporters Thursday.“So I s ...
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