World Headlines: The mother of all wedge issues is shaking up Canadian politics

First Up

By Jordan Tamblyn

Good morning. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone except (checks notes) the U.S. Republican Party, which can now apparently ignore what two-thirds of American voters want. Here’s the latest.

MUST READS

Staff Photographer/Toronto Star

STAR INVESTIGATION

A retired nurse suddenly found herself in financial ruin with $1.5M in mortgages. How did this happen?

In 2020, retired nurse Judy Allen called contractor Tony Sinopoli and laid out her plans to renovate her Willowdale home and “age in place” peacefully. Just eight months later, she had five mortgages and $1 million in contractor bills, while her house and her finances lay in ruins. Allen, who has lived in her home since 1987, is now moving to a retirement home. Kevin Donovan investigates.

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FIRST PERSON

Tracking down her mother’s killer thirty years later

Last Mother’s Day, retired Star reporter Tony Wong received a cryptic message: “Do you remember a story you wrote in 1990 — ‘Death Dream Came Day Before Slaying’?” It was from the daughter of Juline Halstead, whose murder he covered three decades ago. Here’s what happened when Halstead’s daughter, a baby at the time of her death, asked Tony to track down her mother’s murderer.

E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS

POLITICS

How the U.S. drive to ban abortion made it tougher for Canada’s Conservatives

Since 1988, the political history of the anti-abortion lobby in Canada has been that of an unbroken losing streak, writes Chantal Hébert. While the U.S. seems poised to overturn abortion rights, the news is more likely to have the opposite effect in Canada. After all, if the Canadian anti-abortion movement has accomplished anything over the 34 years since the Supreme Court’s Morgentaler decision, it has solidified the political consensus against its cause.

Richard Lautens/Toronto Star File Photo

COVID-19

To swab or not: three experts weigh in on how to use rapid tests

Can you send your child back to school if they're symptom-free? Is it too risky to attend a friend's dinner party? While the pandemic has added layers of uncertainty to what were once easy, everyday decisions, experts say rapid antigen tests are valuable tools that provide clarity and help navigate a post-post-COVID-19 world. Meghan Ogilvie checks in with three experts about how they use rapid tests in the Omicron era.

Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

EDUCATION

Do students really want an extra year of school?

Thanks to the pandemic, Ontario teens now finishing Grade 11 have not yet had an uninterrupted year of high school. The sudden shift to online learning left them behind academically and socially. But do students want to take an extra year to make up for the lost time? Alex McKeen and Demar Grant talk to them about the Liberals’ proposal to bring back Grade 13.

Get a front-row seat this provincial election. As the Ontario election heats up, you need This Week in Politics, featuring exclusive analysis from Queen's Park bureau chief Robert Benzie and columnist Susan Delacourt. Sign up here, and you'll start receiving their insight on what just happened, what it means — and what's coming next.

UP CLOSE

Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Pro-choice advocates rally for reproductive rights outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 7, 2022. Nationwide protests are being planned for May 14 after a leaked draft opinion showed the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.

EAT THIS

Suresh Doss/Special to the Star

If you’re on the lookout for sweet Indian mangoes or your favourite imported spice, Suresh Doss has you covered. Growing up, his family spent entire weekend mornings hunting for the best food in their favourite shops. With his parents as your “culinary compass,” here are three of their favourite places to shop for South Asian staples.

Thanks for reading. A special shoutout to all the different kinds of mothers out there — including bio moms, adopted moms, Honourary Moms, and pet moms. If I’ve forgotten any, tell the First Up team about it at firstup@thestar.ca. Manuela will see you back here Monday.

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