AUDIO – DESCRIPTION:
On 27 January President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting all refugee admissions and temporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia. On January 29, 2017, 6 Muslim men were murdered by gunshot while praying in a Quebec mosque. On January 30, 2017, London Ontario councillor Tanya Parks introduced a motion that asked City staff to (a) work with a city hall diversity committee and come back to council with “the appropriate arrangements” for making London a “sanctuary city”; and (b) have the mayor and staff talk to the federal government about London’s continued commitment to accept refugees from the seven countries under Trump’s temporary ban. The motion received unanimous support from all London councillors, including Councillor Phil Squire who told the media “My concern is, what is a sanctuary city?”. On February 1, 2017, Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever was a guest of The Andrew Lawton show (AM980, London), and he explained that, essentially, a sanctuary city is a city that adopts a policy of harbouring people who are in the country illegally; who lack refugee, immigrant, or citizen status. McKeever explained that, in his view, cities have no lawful authority to make themselves sanctuary cities. Cities that declare themselves to be sanctuary cities are effectively arrogating to themselves refugee and immigration policy-making powers, and undermining federal refugee and immigration policy. The costs and risks to the public are numerous and expensive.
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