Tensions high after fire set at refugee hotel in Toronto
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Community advocates are alarmed that a Toronto hotel housing hundreds of asylum seekers appears to have become the target of anti-refugee sentiment after a fire was deliberately set in a hallway. The Radisson Hotel in the city’s north-east, which is the temporary home to 570-plus so-called irregular migrants from the United States, was the scene of a blaze that sent all guests out onto the streets at around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.Toronto police say the fire was started in the third-floor hallway after a gasoline container was allegedly set alight. Police released a photograph Friday of a woman they are seeking in connection to the blaze, which is being investigated as arson. No injuries were reported. The fire follows an online anti-refugee campaign involving postings on right-wing websites and included a video taken by trespassers showing what they claimed was vandalism by refugees staying at the hotel.“It hits me as a Canadian how sad and disturbing it is. It’s not what we had expected of each other,� said Mario Calla, executive director of COSTI, an agency responsible for the irregular migrants. “Political leaders have a great influence on public opinions. The last thing we want is to see these far-rights nationalists be emboldened by virtue of our elected officials being silent and not dealing with these kinds of issues.�Ten days after the incident, elected officials responded to requests for comment from the Star, offering the first public condemnation of the attack that has rattled refugees and their advocates. “I can’t imagine how cruel and evil a person has to be to knowingly light a fire inside a hotel while people are sleeping. It is deeply concerning to even contemplate the possibility of this being a hate-motivated, targeted act aimed at innocent refugees,� Mayor John Tory said Friday.“I know the vast majority of Toronto residents and Canadians wish them absolutely no harm. Every person in Can ...