World Headlines: "A tragic first for Ontario"

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. Here’s the latest on possible unmarked graves at former residential school sites, a surge in an Omicron subvariant and the King Street transit corridor.

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Supplied Photo/Kaatagoging

residential schools

171 plausible burials have been found at a Kenora, Ont. residential school site

In what Ontario’s minister of Indigenous Affairs called “a tragic first” for the province, a survivors group that has been investigating the site of the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School says ground-penetrating radar has identified at least 171 anomalies or plausible burials. The Kaatagoging Survivors Group has been searching the site for unmarked graves or human remains since May, with financial assistance from the federal and Ontario governments, Omar Mosleh reports. Here’s what we know about the residential school’s history and what comes next.

Go deeper: “I want Canadians to remember that these are our children ... They didn’t get to play with other kids and navigate life,” Wauzhush Onigum Nation Chief Chris Skead said. “I want Canadians to look at their children and imagine what it was like. Imagine what it’s like for us. And then ask yourselves what reconciliation should mean.”
ICYMI: A radar search has found more than 2,000 anomalies at a Saskatchewan residential school site.
More: The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.

Ramon Ferreira/Toronto Star Illustration

health

Cases of COVID Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 are shooting up in Ontario

A new wave of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations appears to be headed for Canada as Ontario sees a surge in the Omicron subvariant known as “Kraken.” The World Health Organization says it’s the “most transmissible” subvariant seen so far, while one expert pointed out that there is no data that indicates it causes more severe disease than other Omicron subvariants. Kenyon Wallace reports on provincial projections and what they mean for the rest of the country.

By the numbers: Three weeks ago, XBB.1.5 was responsible for two per cent of Ontario’s cases. But new data from Public Health Ontario projects that XBB.1.5 will be responsible for 22.2 per cent of all new COVID cases in the province before the end of the week.
More: The subvariant’s arrival comes at a time when society seems to have largely moved on from the pandemic — with no widespread testing, few health restrictions, low booster uptake and hardly any masking — a recipe for more transmission.
Watch for: To date, the public health units with the most XBB.1.5 detected are Niagara, Toronto, York and Haldimand-Norfolk.

Steve Russell/The Star

transit

How many drivers are ignoring the rules on the King Street transit corridor?

Once hailed as a transformative solution, the transit corridor has since fallen into disrepair — with infrastructure crumbling and sporadic enforcement of traffic rules, Lex Harvey reports. Since 2017, drivers are not allowed to travel for more than a block on King Street between Bathurst and Jarvis streets before they must turn right, to give priority to TTC buses and streetcars along the busy downtown route. But how many drivers are actually following the rules? Watch as cars at the corner of King and Yonge streets flout traffic laws during rush hour.

The aftermath: “It signals that Toronto doesn’t really mean the things it says and is not really taking care of the things we’ve invested in,” said Shoshanna Saxe, Canada Research Chair in sustainable infrastructure and an associate professor at the University of Toronto.
Context: Following a 2017 pilot, the King Street project was made permanent in 2019. It had been found to boost ridership, as well as the reliability and speed of the 504 streetcar. It also brought more cyclists to King, all while imposing little disruptions to car travel time downtown.

WHAT ELSE

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Are alcoholic drinks the new cigarettes? A new report lays out the risks and calls for warning labels.

OPSEU’s lawsuit is “bogus” and “riddled with errors,” says the former union president accused of receiving unauthorized cash payouts.

Some groups are quitting Canada’s popular refugee sponsorship program — and it could mean fewer refugees sponsored down the road.

Doug Ford has a plan to outsource surgeries. This clinic shows how it might work.

TIFF senior programmer Ravi Srinivasan has died at 37. Take a look at his legacy.

How falling home prices, economic uncertainty and the high cost of borrowing have hit the home renovation business.

Tougher mortgage qualification rules may be coming this year — and some brokers fear a wave of panic buying.

Where does the money from higher prices go? This study shows who’s raking in those “inflation dollars.”

Are Toronto snow plows damaging your lawn? Here’s why and what you can do about it.

Barley and bean soup, a one-pan wonder and more simple recipes to cook this week.

Watch out — these 10 intersections are Toronto’s most congested.

POV

Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

The Ford government still has time to get health care right — but the devil is in the details.

CLOSE-UP

Ontario Superior Court Exhibit

QUEEN STREET WEST: A still from surveillance video taken outside Cube nightclub on June 30, 2018 — the key piece of evidence in two murders — is seen at a quality that was rare just a few years prior. Here’s how an explosion in surveillance video is transforming the justice system.

Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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