World Headlines: “Does it haunt you the way it haunts me?”

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. Here’s the latest on the human cost of the Toronto van attack and the killer’s sentencing, lifting vaccine mandates for travellers and concerns surrounding the leadership and quality of care at a GTA hospital system.

DON’T MISS

Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould

toronto van attack

Harrowing victim accounts bring the Toronto van attack trial to an end

A Toronto court heard stories on Monday of extensive surgeries, dreams lost and physical and mental wounds inflicted: the consequences of the “evil choices” of the man who ran down pedestrians on Yonge Street four years ago, killing 10 people and injuring another 16. A judge sentenced the killer to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, the maximum possible sentence. Here’s more about the sentencing and the human cost of Toronto’s worst mass murder.

More: Twenty-five emotional statements were submitted or read aloud. One was a drawing by a boy who was 7 years old when his mother died in the attack. It shows them standing together in the snow.
Go deeper: Those who lost family and friends worry about future attacks linked to the incel movement — fuelled by a hatred for women — that the killer claimed to be his inspiration.

Steve Russell/The Star

pandemic travel

Ottawa will announce it’s dropping COVID-19 vaccine mandates today

As of June 20, unvaccinated Canadians will be permitted to board trains and fly domestically and overseas, the Star has learned. Additionally, bureaucrats will no longer be required to be vaccinated. The federal government is expected to make the announcement today. Althia Raj has more on the nixed mandate and the polarization it had caused.

More: Foreign travellers entering Canada will still need to show proof of vaccination, while unvaccinated Canadian travellers returning to the country will still need to quarantine. The federal government says it could readjust measures if circumstances change.
Go deeper: Some ministers supported the relaxation of rules, while others argued that unvaccinated travellers are more likely to spread COVID-19. Ottawa will now only encourage people to ensure they have received three doses of vaccine.

Paige Taylor White/The Star

health care

Allegations of leadership abuses at Trillium Health Partners triggered an independent probe

The administration at Trillium Health Partners uses “oppressive acts of intimidation” against its doctors, an anonymous group of physicians is alleging in two letters. The hospital system and its leadership have strongly disputed the claims, leaving it up to a third-party reviewer to examine the complaints. Here is more about the allegations and the hospital’s response.

Go deeper: The letters, obtained by the Star, say physicians have been silenced, and have taken medical leave or left the hospital system altogether due to the administration’s actions — they say the situation raises concerns about whether THP can provide safe and efficient care.
The aftermath: THP told the Star the letters’ claims weren’t substantiated by the internal review it conducted earlier this year. The hospital said they welcome an independent review.

WHAT ELSE

Toronto police warned officers to brace for a “challenging” reaction upon releasing race-based data on use of force and strip searches.

This 34-year-old is struggling to eat on his $1,169 monthly disability income. He’s also $50,000 in debt. What can he do?

An Ontario court has upheld a pay equity ruling for midwives. “We’re tired of being devalued.”

Residents have been ordered to leave an unsafe Toronto housing complex. For how long? Nobody knows.

Insiders reveal who’s likely to remain in Doug Ford’s cabinet, and who’s in the “penalty box.”

Peter Tabuns is expected to become the interim leader of the Ontario NDP.

Two Sikh rally organizers say they were wrongly arrested amid the Parliament bomb scare.

“Everyone involved has a heavy heart.” The body of a missing 11-year-old Lindsay boy was found.

Nearly one in four homeowners with a mortgage say they may have to sell their property if rates keep rising.

Here’s why Canadian airport screeners will get a weekly $200 attendance bonus this summer.

Kyle Lowry Road was unveiled in Toronto on the third anniversary of the Raptors’ NBA title win.

Donald Trump ignored close advisers who said the election was fair.

POV

Julie Jocsak/Torstar

So many of us have benefitted from the housing market insanity — we’ll all have to make sacrifices to fix it.

CLOSE-UP

Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo

UKRAINE: A member of an extraction crew, whose name was reported by the Associated Press only as Andriy, takes a break during an exhumation at a mass grave near Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv on Monday.

Thanks for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll 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.