Do you know which police forces routinely break the law?

Plus, using public money to police the homeless, and would-be Iranian immigrants taking their cases to court  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

First Up   By Manuela Vega   Good morning. Here’s the latest on Toronto’s efforts to prevent encampments, the nine police forces that keep breaking the law, and the Iranians who say their dreams of coming to Canada were dashed in a bid to clear processing backlogs.       DON’T MISS Richard Lautens/The Star   homelessness The city awarded $1 million in contracts for private security in Toronto parks After some council members and advocates criticized the city’s plan to hire round-the-clock security to monitor public parks and ward off homeless encampments, city staff allocated $1 million for just that. In fact, the city had entered agreements with two security companies before the debate even took place. Here’s why one councillor said Toronto’s Municipal Code was violated. Wait, what? City staff issued two sole-sourced contracts of $500,000 each — the maximum amount before needing council approval. More: Coun. Gord Perks said the consistent lack of transparency around encampment prevention has been troubling. “There’s a very important matter of public policy here, which is are we investing public money in housing people, or are we investing public money in policing people who are homeless?”   Canadian Press/Mark Taylor   unchartered Despite judges’ warnings, these nine Canadian police forces continued to break the law In Edmonton, police violated the Charter rights of 13 per cent of people arrested by detaining them for more than 24 hours, a judge found. In Toronto, police routinely conducted illegal strip searches, and only years after numerous court rulings, a spokesperson says their protocol has changed. Due to chronic Charter violations by the RCMP, a judge was forced to acquit a suspect of murder charges. A Torstar investigation has identified nine police services across Canada that have systematically violated Charter rights — repeatedly, and not by mistake, despite judges condemning their conduct. Here are the details of the cases. Context: Because the violations run the risk of eroding public trust in the justice system, judges have had to toss evidence, hand out reduced sentences or even throw out prosecutions altogether. ICYMI: The infringement on rights are among more than 600 court rulings over the past decade in which judges found police committed serious Charter violations. Scroll through the interactive Torstar investigation here.   Supplied Photo   immigration 105 Iranians say their dreams of coming to Canada were dashed just to clear a processing backlog  Applying for a self-employed immigration program, all of these Iranians — artists, athletes and farmers — were turned down. But was the “mass” refusal just an effort to clear a backlog “at the cost of violation of legal principles”? That question is at the heart of the 105 cases being heard collectively in Federal Court next week. Here’s what we know. Context: The court submission for the group says 479 files were transferred to Warsaw from the backlogged Ankara post in Turkey in 2018. “The Warsaw visa post defied all norms, procedural fairness requirements, and reasonable expectations of outcome in its assessment,” the applicants claimed. More: “I can state with certainty that I am not aware of any policy that is in place at the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw which would serve to discriminate or result in a bias against the clients,” Canada’s migration program manager in Warsaw said in his affidavit.       WHAT ELSE   The panel on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot blamed Donald Trump for the “attempted coup.”   Here’s why Toronto hospitals will keep mask mandates for the foreseeable future. Pierre Poilievre and Marco Mendicino sparred over who asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked.   Conservative memberships have soared to record levels. Here’s what that means for candidates and the party. “Somewhere between hobbling and bleeding out.” Insiders say Canada’s Green party is trying to rebuild.   Here’s the inside story of how Doug Ford beat the NDP — and destroyed the Liberals — in the Ontario election. Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith is considering entering the Ontario Liberal leadership race.   “The last four years have been the worst.” John Filion has joined the exodus from Toronto city council. More than one in 20 flights leaving Pearson Airport were cancelled last week. Here’s why.   More than one million Canadians have to repay CERB. Here’s why EI is being clawed back in some cases. Many LGBTQ seniors entering long-term care hide their identities. Here’s how the “Rainbow Wing” aims to change that.   Meet the people behind the rise of ’80s and ’90s Hong Kong culture in the GTA.       POV Canadian Press/Tara Walton What happened? Misunderstood polling data sunk the NDP’s chances to topple Doug Ford.       PREVIOUSLY.. Jim Russell/The Star   JUNE 10, 1984: Despite tropical weather, singer Dionne Warwick brought more than 10,000 people to the Ontario Place Forum. It was a record crowd for the season to date.     Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. Ashley will see you back here tomorrow.     If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below.   Unsubscribe From This Newsletter Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts Become a Star Subscriber View in Browser Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 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