True North

Individuals staying at a homeless shelter for refugee claimants told True North that asylum seekers have been intentionally staying in the Toronto homeless shelter system — many staying at hotels and motels — for over six months so that they can access a special rent allowance only offered to individuals who’ve been in the system half a year or longer.   

“If you’re still in a shelter for six months, they give you — it’s called T-Hub [TTHAP]. They give you part of your rent and then Ontario Works adds up,” says a young African woman staying in the shelter system since last September at Sojourn House, two buildings within the shelter system designated for refugee claimants and located in downtown Toronto. “They assist you with your rent for around four years.”   

“The system changed right now, so now they never do that… because people would stay in the shelter for six months to get that benefit.”

She came to Canada alone on a student visa, claiming refugee status after arriving at Toronto Pearson.

The housing allowance program — the Toronto Transitional Housing Allowance Program (TTHAP) — is available until 2024 for current recipients at $250, $400 or $500 per month depending on the household’s circumstances.   

“A housing allowance is a temporary fixed portable housing benefit provided directly to households that meet the eligibility criteria and is intended to help cover the gap between income (defined as 30% of gross household income) and market rent,” says Toronto shelter support spokesperson Greg Seraganian in an email to True North.

“TTHAP supports households with six months or more of homelessness referred to the program through city-funded shelters and the City’s Streets to Homes program,” says Seraganian. “TTHAP is funded through time limited Federal/Provincial dollars ending March 31, 2024… Households currently in receipt of a Housing Allowance would continue to do so – until the provincial funding ends in 2024 or their individual circumstances change that may impact their eligibility.”

Many refugee claimants interviewed by True North over the past two months have been staying in hotels for close to six months, declining to take apartments they’ve looked at during that time period.

“TTHAP payments made to landlords or clients by the Ministry of Finance in 2017 was $14.8 million, and $19.2 million in 2018 (the increase in spending can be attributed  to the implementation of a new funding program),” says Seraganian.

A man (who asked not to be identified for this story) currently living at Sojourn House says he believes the shelter system is tiered, with refugee claimants getting better accommodations than the general homeless population. He stayed in general Toronto homeless shelters for the past month while waiting to get a spot at Sojourn House, which he says has far better food and amenities than the previous places where he stayed.

The City of Toronto website does not provide any details on TTHAP, and doesn’t mention the program by name.

The young, solo African refugee claimant says she is thankful she got the monthly housing allowance.

“Lucky enough, I got it.”

As the Trudeau government loses control of their public image in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin fiasco it appears the Liberals have resorted to pre-scripting the social media posts of their MPs.

Rather than fooling anyone, examples of pre-scripted and pre-approved messages have been noticed and shared by the Canadian public.

It has been pointed out that Liberal MPs Anita Vandenbeld and Linda Lapointe recently made practically identical statements on social media, one on Facebook and the other on Twitter, praising Trudeau for listening to women and saying “I have never felt that I could not speak to him openly.”

These manufactured defences came after female cabinet Ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had both resigned, and another Liberal MP claims that she was met with hostility and anger from the Prime Minister in a private meeting.

In another example of potential post duplication was seen as MPs Rob Oliphant and Ruby Sahota made strikingly similar Tweets slamming the Conservatives for forcing a late-night session of the House of Commons in June.

The posts have the same format, use similar wording, and even includes the same spin that the late-night session had “no impact whatsoever on public policy.”

Canadians, who expect that MPs should give their honest and unscripted opinions to their constituents, have been quick to notice and point out similarities on social media.

While many Canadians are concerned by the scripted social media posts, many are also noticing the laziness of those sending them out.
Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz’s Facebook account once posted about “International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia” and how she was “proud to be part of a community that celebrates diversity and inclusion.”

In the post, as many noticed, instead of her riding’s name, the term “[riding here]” can be seen, signalling that this was copied and pasted from somewhere else, rather than written by Dzerowicz or anyone in her office.

As the 2019 federal election nears more scrutiny will certainly be on MPs and their social media, especially in the wake of scripted defences on behalf of the Prime Minister.

A media analysis report by Mission Research has shown that reporting done by True North had a direct influence on people’s perceptions of the United Nations global migration compact and the two main party leaders, Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer.

True North advocates for smarter immigration policy by providing accurate and informative information on immigration and integration issues through investigative reporting and analysis.

True North commissioned the Mission Research report, “The Representation of the UN Migration Compact in the Canadian Media: Justin Trudeau vs. Andrew Scheer,” which analyzed over 150 articles to measure the impact of media coverage..

“(The study) focused on coverage of the relative positions and perspectives of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in news coverage that appeared between November 1^st and December 14^th, 2018,” said Mission Research Vice President Lucas Marshall.

The report found Trudeau’s support of the UN migration compact, which True North opposed and covered on numerous platforms, received an impact score of -1.7, meaning  his views were evaluated negatively by the media.

The research also notes that Trudeau’s favorability would have improved by 55 per cent had it not included coverage by True North. When omitting articles written by True North founder and Toronto Sun columnist, Candice Malcolm, Trudeau’s impact score would be a slightly less negative -1.1.

Scheer’s anti-compact position scored him a “neutral” rating of -0.8 across 97 articles. The report claims that his media impact would have fallen twofold had it not been due to the reporting by True North. Without Malcolm’s coverage of his position on the compact, Scheer would have had a negative score of -1.5.

When taking into account the entire articles surveyed, Trudeau was mentioned 41 per cent more frequently than Scheer in coverage of the migrant compact. However, when taking into account media coverage, Scheer’s position was overall represented more favourably.

The report concludes both party leaders would have benefited from a different media approach. In particular, Scheer would have scored far better had he taken “a more direct and systematic approach to shaping the narrative at an earlier stage in coverage.”

Trudeau would have been seen more favorably had he taken a role as a leading spokesman of the UN migrant compact.

The report is a clear indication that True North’s reporting and independent journalism in Canada is more important than ever.