John Tory's eyeing a return to city hall + Internal data shows wide gaps in pregnancy rates at fertility clinics
Good morning. This is the Wednesday, June 18 edition of First Up, the Star's daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.
It looks like we're in for an extra-hot start to summer in Toronto. Here's what you need to know.
And here's the latest on John Tory's potential return to city hall, what data reveals about Ontario fertility clinics, and why a Toronto man is stranded in Iran.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
DON'T MISS
John Tory is weighing a city hall comeback
Insiders say Tory is eyeing a 2026 mayoral run. Here's what we know.
Edward Keenan: Could we see Olivia Chow vs. John Tory in next year's Toronto mayoral race? Here's what it might look like
Mayor John Tory steps down from office after admitting he had relationship with staffer
Internal data reveals stark contrasts in pregnancy rates at fertility clinics
Here's what the data — which patients don't have access to — reveals about clinics' success rates.
Disturbing errors at Ontario fertility clinics destroy couples' baby dreams years after province abandoned oversight plans
This Toronto man is stranded in Iran
Hossein Khodabakhsh travelled to Tehran to visit his sick mother. Now he's stuck.
The Latest: Israel strikes Tehran for a sixth day as Iranian casualties rise
WHAT ELSE
French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Tuesday.
LUDOVIC MARIN AFP via Getty Images
World leaders were unable to convince Donald Trump to sign a joint G7 declaration of support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take questions from international journalists.
Donald Trump said Canada will get a 'much better deal' if it becomes the 51st American state.
David Olive: National unity is at stake in the war of wills between Carney's energy dreams and Smith's pipeline populism.
This formerly homeless man is teaching kids how to heal from trauma — with improv.
The cop who assaulted Brampton teen Chadd Facey is set to be sentenced today.
A gang of 'stupid criminals' allegedly tried to steal a car from Doug Ford's driveway.
Meanwhile, Ford voiced support for a man who allegedly shot a gun to ward off attempted carjackers.
Eglinton Crosstown LRT train operations have been transferred to TTC. Here's what comes next.
A real estate investment firm bought an aging, 'luxury' apartment building in midtown. Here's what happened next.
Wine sales at the LCBO fell as U.S. imports to Canada plunged 94 per cent.
Shellene Drakes-Tull: Here's why that crass sticker on your bumper can snowball into something darker.
POV
The Blue Jays were maligned for sending Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks. Two years later, both teams are happy with the trade.
CLOSE UP
Members of the Florida Panthers celebrate their victory over the Edmonton Oilers with a final score of 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena Tuesday.
Mike Carlson Getty Images
SUNRISE: The Florida Panthers celebrate their second straight Stanley Cup victory. The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final last night. Here's Bruce Arthur's take on another loss for a Canadian team.
Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I will see you back here tomorrow.
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After Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump met one-on-one for 30 minutes on Monday morning, but before their respective teams joined to continue the discussion, the two leaders invited reporters and television cameras into a meeting room in Kananaskis, Alta. to witness them exchanging formal pleasantries. Carney opened by wishing the president a happy belated birthday and then noted the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army (the reason for Trump's military parade in Washington this past weekend (new window) ). The prime minister then segued to the fact this was the 50th anniversary of these meetings of the leaders of the world's most powerful democracies. And the G7 is nothing without U.S. leadership, your personal leadership, leadership of the U.S., Carney said. In fairness, Carney also told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that we'd be nowhere without Germany and without you personally and he said that French President Emmanuel Macron, the current dean of the G7 leaders, offered essential leadership. But perhaps, given the context, this suggestion to Trump resonates differently. On one level, this no doubt flattered the president, personally. Perhaps it could even be read as an entreaty for the United States to remain engaged and allied with the nations of the G7. On another level, it might read as a simple statement of the obvious — about the central, historic importance of the United States to the G7, about American influence over a body that operates on consensus or about the simple mathematical reality that the G7 without the United States would be the G6. On a higher level, Carney's comments might have spoken to the central tension of this week's meetings in Kananaskis and the larger questions about the G7's utility and future (new window) in a world where Trump is president of the United States. On a different level, there is also the question of whether the United States still wants to lead — or in what direction and in what ways. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., on Monday. Photo: AP / Mark Schiefelbein Some or all of this might be said to have hung over the two days of meetings that Carney chaired in Alberta — two days that highlighted both the potential value and the real strains of a grouping that at least made it through its 50th meeting without falling apart. Indeed, moments after Carney's opening comments, the challenge of finding consensus became loudly apparent when Trump, unprompted, began to lament (again) that Russia was expelled from what had been the G8 in 2014 (new window) . When a reporter asked him whether China should also be invited, Trump agreed. Carney, appearing increasingly eager to get on with the rest of his meeting with the president, finally stepped forward and encouraged reporters to be on their way. WATCH | What Carney achieved at the G7 after Trump left: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? At that point, the 50th meeting of the Group of Seven was still an hour or so away from officially beginning — shortly after concluding his meeting with Trump, Carney would go outside to officially welcome each leader to the summit. We're gathering at one of those turning points in history. A turning point where the world looks to this table for leadership, Carney said, perhaps a little hopefully, when the leaders gathered around a circular table inside to begin their formal talks. We might not agree on absolutely every issue, but where we will cooperate, we will make an enormous difference, for our citizens and for the world. Approximately 12 hours later, Trump departed by helicopter, pleading that he needed to return to Washington urgently to deal with the Israel-Iran conflict. Where the G7 leaders agree and disagree The president's early exit from Kananaskis recalled his early departure from Charlevoix in 2018 and thus might suggest something about Trump's interest in these forums. But before he left he still claimed to have enjoyed himself this time. I tell you, I loved it, Trump told reporters at the G7's family photo. And I think we got a lot done. As foreshadowed by Canadian officials last week, the Kananaskis summit did not produce the sort of expansive joint communique — a formal expression of the G7's shared views and desired actions — that typically follows these kinds of international confabs. Instead, the summit ended with narrower statements on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, migrant smuggling, transnational repression, critical minerals and responding to wildfires. Limiting the desired results to those topics likely prevented a more acrimonious summit. But the differences were still impossible to completely paper over. WATCH | Carney pledges support for Ukraine to wrap G7: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? 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And in answering his own question, he offered an implicit defence of the institution based on the value of dialogue (echoing comments that a former U.S. State Department official recently made to CBC News (new window) ). WATCH | Carney addresses the room where it happens: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? The advantage of, particularly, the G7 is that there are only, oddly, nine people in the room, Carney said (meetings of the G7 typically include the presidents of the European Council and European Commission). And there is a great amount of direct dialogue and discussion. Very frank exchanges, very strategic exchanges. Differences of opinion on a number of issues. But from an effort to find common solutions to some of these problems. These exchanges, Carney said, are very important for building relationships and trust. At a time when multilateralism is under great strain … that we got together, that we agreed on a number of areas … that's important, that's valuable. However much the world has changed and whatever the state of American leadership, the members of the G7, including the United States, apparently still see value in gathering around the G7's table. Aaron Wherry (new window) · CBC News · Senior writer Aaron Wherry has covered Parliament Hill since 2007 and has written for Maclean's, the National Post and the Globe and Mail. He is the author of Promise & Peril, a book about Justin Trudeau's years in power.
