The Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, has revealed that the death of an asylum-seeker who camped outside a former Peel Region shelter recently should wake up other levels of government that need to offer instant support to municipalities that are dealing with the increasing refugee crisis.
While talking to reporters, Brown said: “We have been warning senior levels of government since July this was going to happen.
“It’s beyond comprehension that we have allowed this to happen. When I got the news of a fatality yesterday, my heart broke, it sunk.”
Peel Regional Police revealed that the corpse was found on Wednesday morning in front of a building located at 1767 Dundas Street East, the former site of the Peel Family Shelter, which moved to a new address last year.
They said in a written statement that officers were called to the area at around 7:30 a.m. for reports of a man inside a tent without major signs.
They said the man in his 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene and the fatality has been labeled “non-suspicious.”
The police added that the cause of death has not yet been discovered but a post-mortem exam has been ordered,
Brown said: “My hope is that fatality that was outside the shelter is not going to be in vain, that this tragedy can ignite those calls for help.”
He stated that the shelter system in the region is currently operating at over 300 percent capacity due to the use of temporary accommodations in hotels.
He said: “We have capacity for 500 and we are almost at 1,500.”
He added that about 80 per cent of the people in the shelter system are asylum-seekers, mostly from Africa.
He said: “What petrifies me… is the temperatures are about to get colder.
“There will be more fatalities and that blood is on our hands if we don’t step up and help.”
He noted that though conversations are ongoing with the federal government, funding is not coming fast enough.
He said: “Since July we have had three meetings with the minister of immigration, citizenship, and refugees. All positive.
“I believe he appreciates in a very honest way, the urgency of the situation. But this cannot wait another month, this cannot wait weeks.”
