World Headlines: John Tory's giving his office a juicy raise

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. GTA commuters might have a challenging trip home this evening due to heavy rain. Here’s what you need to know.

Plus, the latest on federal health-care funding for Ontario, the girls charged in the “swarming” death of a homeless man and Toronto’s 2023 budget.

DON’T MISS

Canadian Press/Chris Young

ontario politics

Doug Ford says Ontario will accept the Trudeau government’s conditions for new health-care funding

While some premiers have opposed the idea of the federal government having any say in spending, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s willing to accept the conditions placed by Ottawa on any new health-care funds. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has said provinces that receive extra money would have to modernize health data collection and make targeted investments in home and long-term care as well as mental health. Robert Benzie reports on the federal-provincial accounting differences.

Context: The Trudeau government has expressed concern that some premiers could move the additional transfer payments into general revenues instead of earmarking them for specific health-care challenges.
Word from Alberta: “I think they’ve been pretty clear they are not coming to the table,” Premier Danielle Smith said about the Trudeau government on CTV News Channel’s “Power Play.”
Meanwhile: Ontario pharmacists can now prescribe medicine for 13 common ailments. Here’s what you need to know.

Paige Taylor White/The Star

crime

Teen girls charged in the “swarming” death of a homeless man are suspects in random TTC assaults, a source says

After Toronto police said in a press release that they’re seeking help identifying victims who were assaulted at subway stations on Dec. 17, a law enforcement source confirmed to the Star that the suspects are the same teenagers charged in the murder of 59-year-old Ken Lee. The subway assaults took place just hours before Lee, who was experiencing homelessness, died in an attack near Union Station. Jennifer Pagliaro, Betsy Powell and Victoria Gibson report on what we know about the case so far.

Context: The release said “a group of 8-10 teenage girls randomly assaulted several people” at Queen’s Park, St. Patrick, Osgoode, St. Andrew and Union stations.
More: The girls, aged 13 to 16, were arrested last month and charged with second-degree murder. One has been released on bail. Another has a bail hearing set next week, with additional court dates set for the others later this month.
ICYMI: Quick to offer a helping hand or a cup of coffee, Lee died in the streets he wanted to escape.

Toronto Star

city hall

The budget for the Toronto mayor’s office will jump by 37 per cent this year

In his 2023 budget, the mayor is giving out a new, generous raise — for his own office. It will receive an additional $800,000 this year for what a spokesperson said is, in part, due to increased responsibilities under the new strong-mayor powers. Within that increase is an estimated 6.7 per cent, or $13,000, raise for John Tory himself, Alyshah Hasham reports. City Councillors and staff will also get an automatic 6.7 per cent raise, amounting to about $8,000 each. It doesn’t apply to CUPE Local 79 members, which make up about 20,000 city workers, however. They will see a 1.5 per cent raise in January. Here’s what else we know about the increase.

By the numbers: The spokesperson said $2.9 million is less than the inflation-adjusted budget in 2009 and less than Chicago or Boston. Ottawa’s mayor had a budget of $1.3 million in 2022.
More: “It’s no surprise to see the Mayor and Councillors contemplate increasing their own wages, but they must do the same for City workers, whose scheduled increases are well below the rate of inflation and tantamount to large wage cuts,” said Local 79 President Casey Barnett.

WHAT ELSE

Free-flowing travel for Lunar New Year begins as fears grow for China’s next COVID surge.

Canadians feel the recession is already here. These numbers show the doom and gloom.

Police say a fraud suspect took over $37,000 in false rental payments and deposits.

Pierre Poilievre offers the disenfranchised his anger, but no solutions.

Volatile markets are likely to continue for at least a year. Here’s what we know about the weakening economy.

A Toronto physiotherapist is facing charges in alleged youth sex assaults. Here’s what we know.

Blaming foreigners will not resolve the housing shortage. Let’s talk about the obstacles to increasing supply.

The vacancy rate for downtown Toronto offices has hit 13.6 per cent. Take a closer look at the perfect storm of factors.

Historical fiction fan? Find wisdom, humanity and adventure in these four new books.

Hot and sour soup, almond-crusted chicken and other dinner recipes to try this week.

POV

Jerome Clark/Supplied Photo

A broken system is putting the human rights of Ontarians at risk.

CLOSE-UP

Josh Edelson/AFP

CALIFORNIA: San Diego firefighters help Humberto Maciel rescue his dog from his flooded home in Merced on Tuesday. Relentless storms have left 14 people in the state dead.

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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