
Carney meets the realities of governing + RCMP probes potential war crimes in Israel-Hamas conflict
Good morning. This is the Tuesday, June 3 edition of First Up, the Star's daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.
There's a running club for almost everyone in the city — Black runners, women, dog owners — but there are none quite like the Ravers Run Club.
And here's the latest on what happened at the first ministers meeting, Markham seniors who are being hit with expensive repair fees and an RCMP probe into potential war crimes related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
DON'T MISS
The first ministers agreed on 'nation-building' priorities, but First Nations raised alarms
The Assembly of First Nations warned there's not enough time for consultations. Catch up here.
First Nations infrastructure critical but not nation-building: minister
Liberal government legislation to further tighten Canada-U.S. border expected today
The RCMP is probing potential war crimes related to the Israel-Hamas conflict
The RCMP launched the investigation quietly in early 2024. Here's everything we know.
Gaza officials say Israeli forces killed 27 heading to aid site. Israel says it fired near suspects.
These seniors bought 'life leases.' Now they might owe money for repairs
Wyndham Gardens Apartments residents said the roof repair was never supposed to be their responsibility.
Deadline looms for Toronto pilot program providing air conditioning to low-income seniors
Toronto Fire ordered their landlords to comply with the fire code. Now, these tenants fear losing their affordable rentals for good
WHAT ELSE
Photos from one of two scathing auditor's reports on the city's parks department.
Toronto Auditor General
The city and the head of its beleaguered parks division parted ways. Here's what lies ahead.
Edward Keenan: Toronto is messy. That might be the best thing about it.
A man died in an accident at a Metrolinx rail yard in Mississauga yesterday. Here's what we know so far.
Closing arguments are expected next week in the Hockey Canada trial. Catch up on what happened yesterday.
It's Pride Month in Toronto. Here's what you need to know.
Max Mosher: Pride is under attack making this year's events as important as ever.
Recruiters spend an average of eight seconds reading a resume. Here's how to make yours stand out.
'Anne of Green Gables' has a new adaptation at the Stratford Festival. Here's our critic's review.
Gregor Chisholm: Two steps forward, two steps back: Will the real Blue Jays please stand up?
Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby have Raptors fans wondering what might've been. Not much, Bruce Arthur writes.
The Rink Hole will be shorter, and probably sweeter, at this year's RBC Canadian Open.
Easton Cowan isn't about to replace Mitch Marner, but he has what the Leafs are looking for.
POV
Here is the truth about Alberta's myth that it's ignored by the federal government.
CLOSE UP
Shahyrya Rafiei dances to electronic music in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Nick Lachance Toronto Star
TRINITY BELLWOODS: Shahyrya Rafiei dances to electronic music in Trinity Bellwoods Park. 'I did a 75 km bike ride and found this on my way home!' Rafiei said. The Sunday event was hosted by Family Beats, which runs afternoon dance parties in the park.
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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CBC
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- CBC
Israel recovers bodies of Canadian Israeli Judih Weinstein-Haggai and husband held by Hamas
Israel's military recovered the bodies of two hostages, Canadian Israeli Judih Weinstein-Haggai and her husband, Israeli American Gadi Haggai, who were held by Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. The Israeli army said in a statement that the bodies of the husband and wife were recovered in a special operation from Khan Younis area in the Gaza Strip. "Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts ache for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed," Netanyahu said in a statement. Kibbutz Nir Oz announced the deaths of Weinstein-Haggai, 70, and Haggai, 72, both of whom had Israeli and U.S. citizenship, in December 2023. The Israeli military said they were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and taken into Gaza by the Mujahideen Brigades, the small armed group that it said had also abducted and killed Shiri Bibas and her two small children. Weinstein-Haggai grew up in Canada and held Canadian and U.S. citizenship. She was born in New York state but moved to Toronto at the age of three, and then moved to Israel 20 years later to live with Haggai. She was a mother of four and a grandmother of seven. Following the recovery of two bodies, 56 hostages are still held by Hamas, with fewer than half believed to be alive, according to Israeli estimates. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 assault in which Hamas-led gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies. In the subsequent fighting, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, local health authorities say.


National Observer
an hour ago
- National Observer
A year of protection: BC First Nations secure mining pause on ancestral lands
First Nations in northern British Columbia have secured a one-year pause on new mining claims across a vast stretch of their traditional territory, a move Indigenous leaders called 'history-making' for Indigenous-led land management. Gillian Staveley, a member of Kaska Dene and director of culture and land stewardship for the Dena Kayeh Institute, said the agreement marks a big step forward. 'This is a really important beginning,' Staveley said. 'We're really focusing on the work that's moving us forward toward what we're striving for, where Kaska leadership is respected and reconciliation is honestly more than just a word.' The BC government announced Tuesday that for the next year, no new mining claims can be staked or registered in the region covered by the agreement. The pause will give the five First Nations, including the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga'a Nations, and the province time to work together on a land-use plan and gather input on how the land should be protected, used and managed in future. Sensitive ecosystems, rivers, lakes and wildlife habitats in the area will be protected from new industrial disturbance while the pause is in effect. Salmon spawning streams, old-growth forests and areas important for caribou and moose will not face new mining impacts. Areas of cultural and spiritual significance to the Kaska — burial grounds, traditional hunting and gathering areas and sacred sites — will be protected from new mining while their importance is documented and considered in planning. Zones for different uses — such as protected areas, sustainable forestry, tourism, or potential future mining — will be mapped out. At the heart of the agreement is Dene Kʼéh Kusān, a vast wild area in northern British Columbia. In the Kaska Dena language, the name means 'Always Will Be There.' The region is one of the largest intact natural landscapes in the province, bigger than Vancouver Island, with no roads or power lines and home to caribou, moose and mountain goats. It also has thousands of Kaska cultural sites and ancient trails. "We're really focusing on the work that's moving us forward toward what we're striving for, where Kaska leadership is respected and reconciliation is honestly more than just a word," said Gillian Staveley, Dena Kayeh Institute. 'The farther north you get, there are no roads, there are no power lines, there are no train tracks. There's nothing there, but just the way that the creator intended it to be,' said Harlan Schilling, deputy chief of the Daylu Dena Council and the CEO of the First Nations Centre of Excellence with the BC Assembly of First Nations. "You go over anywhere in the world, and there's not many places like that left." Kaska leaders have been working for years to see Dene Kʼéh Kusān officially protected as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). The pause on new mining claims is seen as a key step toward making that vision a reality. By stopping new mining for a year, First Nations and the government have time to work together on a land use plan that could lead to long-term protection. 'It's just one year, and it's a strategy,' Staveley said. 'It was done strategically so that we can support the meaningful land use planning that needs to happen on the land base within the next year, so it doesn't impact existing projects.' Leaders say some areas are sacred and must be protected, while others may be open to responsible development, but only with their consent. 'Regardless of what happens here, the Kaska will never stop trying to protect that region, but there are always opportunities to sit down and discuss what responsible resource development can look like in other areas of our traditional territory. But that can obviously never be done without Kaska's consent,' Staveley said. The process behind the agreement reflects years of dialogue with the provincial government, neighbouring First Nations and local stakeholders. Kaska leaders said the collaboration is a model for how governments and Indigenous nations can work together, even amid geopolitical tensions and debates over consultation. 'The whole world economically changed … when the Trump administration had gotten in,' Schilling said. 'But we're very grateful we had a team working on this for years. So, even with the slowdown in staking, the talks and negotiations started months, if not years, ago.' The stakes go beyond economic and environmental benefits but also help future generations restore and inherit their language, traditions and land. 'My six-year-old little girl speaks Kaska way better than I do now,' Schilling said. 'This IPCA is going to help us as Kaska re-identify some of the things that were lost to us during the generations of the residential schools.' First Nations and the province will work under a tight timeline to finalize a land use plan. Existing mining projects and claims can continue to get permits and continue exploring until the planning is complete. As the First Nations and province continue on this process, the pause is being closely watched as a possible model for reconciliation and Indigenous-led stewardship across Canada, leaders say. 'This is about showing there are ways to do this right,' Staveley said. 'We call this land – Dena Kayeh, which means the people's country, and it's really an area for all people to enjoy, and it's a very inclusive and forward-thinking approach to how we can steward our land better.'


National Observer
an hour ago
- National Observer
Reining in oil and gas is good for the economy
In biophysical terms, the oil and gas sector has expanded to the point of dominating the Canadian economy. The raw material extracted from nature by the oil and gas industry now outweighs all other domestic extraction of natural resources. This includes trees felled, ores mined, fish caught, gravel quarried, livestock slaughtered, coal mined and crops harvested. When burned, Canadian oil and gas emit well over a billion tonnes per year of climate-wrecking carbon dioxide. In sharp contrast to its biophysical dominance, oil and gas extraction provides only 0.4 per cent of Canadian jobs, and indeed only 16 per cent of jobs among extractive sectors. Moreover, most Canadian fossil fuel energy gets exported rather than consumed domestically. Even if domestic production of oil fell by nearly two thirds, and gas by more than a third, it would still be enough for current levels of domestic consumption. When Canada finally starts keeping, rather than breaking, its commitments to reduce fossil fuel use and thus greenhouse gas emissions, still less oil and gas will suffice for domestic consumption. Over the past 10 years, the governing Liberals promoted the biophysical takeover of the economy by oil and gas, largely through aggressive support of pipelines. They spent $50 billion buying, enlarging, and otherwise bolstering, the unmarketable Trans Mountain Pipeline. They sicced the RCMP on people defending Indigenous land against the Coastal Gas Link. And they launched a treaty dispute with the US to stifle tribal and state governments acting to shut down Enbridge Line 5. These actions have done tremendous harm to Canadian ecosystems and the global atmosphere. Liberal support for oil and gas has also hurt the Canadian economy. On average, other economic sectors sustain more than eight times more jobs per million dollars of GDP than oil and gas extraction does. Public and private investment in oil and gas crowds out investment in these other sectors, thus killing off jobs. By locking in fossil fuel, oil and gas investments lock out what we need more of, for both ecological and economic reasons. This includes solar energy, green buildings, mass transit and ecosystem restoration, all of which would create more jobs. At this week's meeting with premiers, Prime Minister Carney showed disturbing signs of caving in further to oil and gas. Instead, he must stop the industry's all-out assault on the biosphere. This means ending fossil fuel subsidies, rather than augmenting them, as the Liberals have in the past. And it means rejecting new pipelines and phasing out old ones, rather than proliferating them, as the Liberals have in the past. Humanity and nature urgently need our new government to finally set the Canadian economy on a more ethical and prosperous course away from oil and gas. Gregory M. Mikkelson, co-founder, Cross Border Organizing Working Group, As a tenured professor of environmental studies, Greg Mikkelson lectured and published in ecology, philosophy, and economics, with a focus on the nature, causes, and value of biological diversity. He also helped divest McGill University from fossil fuels. Having left academia, he now volunteers as a researcher and organizer for a growing international movement to shut down tar sands pipelines in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence watershed.