World Headlines: Meet the winners and losers of today's economy

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. The new year is bringing in extra help for seniors and afflicted Ontarians — here’s what you need to know.

Here’s the latest on the struggle to reform the RCMP, the toxicity of Twitter during the pandemic and how inflation benefits CEOs.

DON’T MISS

Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan

policing

Like her predecessors, Brenda Lucki hasn’t cleaned up the RCMP’s messes

The RCMP faces dark and existential questions as it enters its 150th year, Allan Woods writes. It has changed up its commissioner — the country’s top cop and senior bureaucrat whose responsibilities include responding to government commands and the needs of the most rural outposts — five times in only the last 16 years. Since 2018, it’s been Brenda Lucki at the helm. And she’s been no stranger to controversy, with her leadership called into question by inquiries into the so-called “Freedom Convoy” and the mass shooting in Portapique, N.S. But should she take all the blame? Here’s a closer look at the extent of the issues plaguing the force.

More: “Vision 150 and Beyond,” an aspirational plan for the RCMP’s path to the future, is founded upon four pillars: creating an RCMP culture that is modern and inclusive; a workforce that is happy and healthy; a management structure that is agile and effective; and a country that is safe.
Go deeper: “This process essentially repeats about every five years, with little to show for it,” wrote a Royal Military College and Queen’s University professor in a 2017 report on the campaigns to transform, reform or “fix” the RCMP.

Shruti Bhatnagar/The Star

social media

During COVID, experts found a niche on Twitter. But the well has been poisoned — and it’s not just trolls

For many medical experts, Twitter began as a vital information tool and a channel for ideas during a global health crisis. But people who had been accustomed to high standards of scientific ethics and academic rigour soon began to find themselves in what they describe as a battleground where trolls waged war on epidemiologists and spread lies about COVID and vaccines, Omar Mosleh reports. Others have noted scientists engaging in online disputes that have sometimes left the public unsure of who to trust. Here’s what experts told the Star about their experiences over the last three years — and the potential consequences of toxicity online.

More: Dr. Lynora Saxinger, a professor and infectious diseases expert, said Twitter was once useful for professional networking, but has become increasingly dysfunctional — describing it as a “Wild West shootout.”
Go deeper: Women who spoke to the Star consistently said they receive more personal attacks, including threats of sexual violence, compared to their male colleagues.
Miss something? Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the platform dropping its policy on removing COVID-19 misinformation have done little to suggest that the situation will improve.

Canadian Press/Adrien Veczan

labour

Inflation is bad for workers, but good for CEOs

Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs saw their pay soar by 26 per cent in 2021 after adjusting for inflation — averaging about $14.3 million and breaking the previous record of $11.8 million set three years earlier. Using those figures, the average CEO on the list will have made $58,800 by the time a worker takes their coffee break this morning, Christine Dobby reports. That’s according to the latest annual report on public company CEO compensation by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Here’s what else the report shows about “who are the winners and who are the losers” in today’s economy.

Bad news for: The average worker, who saw their pay decline by two per cent in 2021 after adjusting for inflation.
Good news for: Philip Fayer, the founder and CEO of payments processing company Nuvei, who topped the list as the highest-paid CEO. His compensation was listed at $141 million.

WHAT ELSE

Ontario’s new affordable housing bill will cut development charges. But is that even effective?

Delays, confusion and old trains. Here’s why Canada needs to start getting serious about rail travel.

Ukraine is facing a grim start to 2023 after more Russian attacks. Here’s the latest.

Make these four financial resolutions to straighten out your family finances in 2023.

After a hollow rebuke of Cuba, here’s how Canada can take meaningful action against human rights violators.

Banks charge more than 6 per cent on loans, but give less than 2 per cent on savings accounts. Are we being gouged?

So-called “Freedom Convoy” protests had Mélanie Joly and other foreign ministers all worried about the same thing.

Turning a medical procedure into a political one, a law protecting abortion in Canada would actually do the opposite.

TSN’s camouflaged on-ice camera operator was a hit at the world juniors. Here’s a close-up on the fun and challenging job.

Celine Dion didn’t make Rolling Stone’s list of 200 Greatest Singers and Twitter isn’t having it.

ICYMI

Wutthichai Luemuang/Dreamstime Photo

This homeowner’s mortgage payments have shot up by more than $1,000 a month. Here’s what he should do.

CLOSE-UP

Steve Russell/The Star

KILLBEAR PROVINCIAL PARK: Star photographer Steve Russell’s daughter plunges into Georgian Bay from the jumping rocks at the provincial park north of Parry Sound. Capturing moments of joy, heartbreak and history, these are our top photos from 2022.

Before I go, we want to know what big plans you have for 2023. Is this the year you finally pick up that instrument or learn to ice skate? Personally, I’ll be manifesting a year of healthy home cooking. So, snap a photo of you in action — show off that gym selfie or that home-improvement project you’re starting — and send it to us at firstup@thestar.ca. We may feature you in an upcoming edition.

Thank you for reading. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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