Federal border security minister blasts Ford government over lack of help for asylum claims
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

OTTAWA—The federal Liberals have allocated an additional $45 million in funding for Toronto to accommodate a spike in the number of asylum claimants as the war of words with the Ford government heats up.Federal Border Security Minister Bill Blair blasted the provincial government Thursday, saying talks between Ottawa and Queen’s Park on working collaboratively on the file had broken down.Blair said the federal government will effectively go around Queen’s Park to deal directly with Tory and Toronto city hall. The Liberals have now committed a total of $78 million to assist Toronto with providing temporary housing and services as asylum claimants await their hearings. “The Ontario government, for reasons of their own, have decided to step right out of their traditional role in providing any kind of support or partnership,� Blair said outside the House of Commons.“Ideally we work with and through our provincial partners. But when that partner leaves the table and steps away from their responsibilities, we’re not going to leave the cities hanging.�Blair was responding to a letter sent by Ontario’s Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod to Mayor John Tory Wednesday. In the letter, MacLeod pointedly asked Tory to look to the federal government, not the province, to recoup an estimated $47 million in costs associated with housing and providing services for the asylum claimants — roughly the same amount Blair committed Thursday.Read more: Toronto mayor declares war on Ford government’s ‘ill-advised budget cutbacks’Ford government is ending co-operation with Ottawa on resettlement of asylum-seekersRefugee who lost fingers to frostbite pleads with MPs not to pass new asylum law“While you have found time to hold media availabilities and photo opportunities at city hall to protest a reallocation of 0.24 per cent of your total budget,� MacLeod wrote, referencing provincial ...