ILLEGALS GET A FREE PASS AT TORONTO SCHOOLS

Schools will not turn away illegals

'Our Responsibility'; Premier resists call to adopt 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy

Diana Mehta And Natalie Alcoba, National Post
Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008


Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday all students are welcome in Ontario schools, even as a new Toronto report suggests illegal immigrants face difficulties enrolling their children.

"A child shows up at the door looking for an education and our responsibility is to provide that education," Mr. McGuinty told reporters yesterday.

"If the federal government feels that child, that family, should not be in our province, then that is something they should do something about. But we are not going to start picking and choosing which kids are going to be allowed into the classroom."

The Premier stopped short of saying whether or not schools should ask parents about their immigration status.

He also did not address the "Don't Tell" part of a public campaign to shield people who are living illegally in Canada from police or immigration officers who seek their deportation.

A report released yesterday by the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto urged the government to adopt a province-wide "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy to ensure that families feel safe sending their children to school.

"School officials [should] not be allowed to 'ask' about a student, parent or guardian's immigration status, and if s/he learned that a student, parent or guardian was without status, the staff, administrator or educator would not share this information with others, particularly law enforcement or immigration officials," the report says.

Researchers say it's the first Canadian study about access to education for the children of illegal immigrants, albeit with a small sample size of 17 participants.

Four participants could not enrol their children in Toronto District School Board schools because of their immigration status and one parent was turned away four times. Almost all were asked to provide some sort of immigration documentation by the school, even though the Toronto District School Board adopted a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy last year following the high-profile deportation of four children who attended Toronto Catholic schools.

The 17 participants -- 14 parents, two youths and one grandmother -- were originally from the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe and had been living in Canada from three months to 18 years. In total, they had 17 children who were eventually able to enroll in a Toronto school without immigration status.

Toronto police have implemented a partial policy by which they are not supposed to ask for the immigration status of victims or witnesses of a crime, unless they have a bona fide reason to do so.

The City of Toronto has started implementing an unofficial policy to ensure that undocumented workers have access to basic municipal services, including emergency response services, public transit, public health and programs for children.

City employees are not supposed to ask anyone for their immigration status unless required by law, such as in the case of the Ontario Works program.

The policy has not come before city council for debate or approval.

Councillor Joe Mihevc (St. Paul's) said it's not the city's role to act as an agent for another level of government through its services.

"We think [the policy] is helping people normalize their functioning in this city and that is a good thing. It allows them to have their kids in school, feel safe and secure in their homes and yes, there may be a concern of another order of government, but that's their issue," he said.

Not demanding proof of status for most city services, and not sharing status information with other levels of government also help keep all Toronto residents safer, Mr. Mihevc said.