Article content

Border Security minister Bill Blair re-announced plans Friday to give Toronto $11 million in federal funds to offset the cost of housing refugees in city shelters.

Blair also announced federal plans to pick up the tab to rent hotel rooms for some 272 asylum seekers who face eviction Aug. 9 from two Toronto college dorms because students are returning to class.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or EDITORIAL: Federal border strategy a bad joke, not a plan Back to video

And he suggested the federal government may pony up “further financial support for temporary housing” to help cities deal with the steady flow of people crossing the border from the U.S.

What Blair didn’t articulate, however, was an actual plan to help cities across the country help house, settle and integrate asylum seekers into Canada or the broader and growing problem of managing the number illegal or “irregular” refugees crossing our border.

Two thirds of Canadians now think this country has a border crisis, a new Angus Reid poll shows and almost as many think Canada has welcomed “too many” asylum seekers for officials to handle.