Race and policing in Toronto, 20 years later. What has changed?

Plus, the fate of the John A. Macdonald statue in Queen’s Park  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

First Up   By Ashley Okwuosa   Good morning. The skating rink at Harbourfront Centre will be permanently closed and turned into a new plaza. Here’s the latest.       MUST READS Jim Rankin/Toronto Star   policing An explosive Star investigation exposed anti-Black discrimination in Toronto police. It changed the city 20 years ago, the Star launched a groundbreaking investigative series into race, policing, and crime, which used Toronto police arrest and charge data to show that Black people were treated more harshly than others. None of the data was a revelation to Toronto’s Black communities, but at the time, the reaction from the police, its civilian oversight board, and politicians was denial. Today, politicians and leaders in many sectors sing a different tune. Last year, Toronto police finally issued an apology after their own data confirmed many of the same patterns uncovered by the Star. Two decades after the Star’s landmark investigation, Jim Rankin revisits the series to discover what has changed.   Rick Madonik/Toronto Star   PROVINCIAL POLITICS What should Queen’s Park do with its statue of John A. Macdonald? The 1894 statue of the country’s founding prime minister has been boarded up since 2020 following several incidents of vandalism. Dozens of small shoes also lay at the statue’s feet in silent protest over the unmarked graves of Indigenous children at residential schools and Macdonald’s role in creating the residential school system. Some suggest tearing the statue down, moving it into storage, leaving it in place with a plaque on residential schools, putting it in a museum where Macdonald’s legacy can be more fully explained and explored, or adding a residential school monument. Now, figuring out what to do with the statue has been left to the legislature’s Board of Internal Economy. Rob Ferguson reports on the future of the statue of John A. Macdonald.   Realtor.ca   GTA HOME HUNT This $950K house for sale is currently home to three rental units. Here’s what potential buyers and tenants should know The detached house located in the Junction neighbourhood might be an appealing secondary property for a seasoned investor or landlord. But with three rental units and tenants currently paying below market rate, how can a future owner recoup their investment? In this edition of #GTAHomeHunt, Aisling Murphy speaks with experts about why a possible “cash for keys” scenario might be a worthwhile solution for landlords and investors.   Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star file photo   Opinion Why Casa Loma is a cautionary tale for Doug Ford’s Ontario Place plans Casa Loma was a great big Toronto folly, writes Shawn Micallef. Debt and expensive upkeep forced the original owner to vacate the castle. The city took over for unpaid taxes and spent over $30 million across 15 years to cover restorations, begging the question — will that be the case for Therme Group’s spa planned for Ontario Place? If business isn’t good for Therme, an Austrian company, will it stick it out in Toronto or leave? Will the people of Ontario have a giant, expensive-to-maintain, white elephant spa on their hands? Here’s why Shawn believes Casa Loma’s fate should be a warning.   Rick Madonik/Toronto Star   PROVINCIAL POLITICS This non-partisan internship program can lead to top jobs with premiers of any political stripe. Here’s how The prestigious 10-month placement program prides itself on being non-partisan and allows recent university graduates to work with politicians in different parties. So far, the Ontario Legislature Internship Program (OLIP) has churned out a prime minister’s chief of staff, a national party leader, a federal cabinet minister, deputy ministers, diplomats, journalists, lawyers, and academics. Robert Benzie breaks down everything you need to know about the program and why participants say it helped them “understand how governments govern.”       UP CLOSE Richard Lautens/Toronto Star Sifting through his grandmother’s belongings after she died, Max Arnold stumbled on a painting he had favoured as a child and a thank-you note from the artist. When Arnold Googled the artist, he learned she, too, had passed — so he reached out to her daughter to return the painting. Briony Smith shares how the gesture led to an unlikely friendship.       READ THIS Ho-Harry Livings/The Canadian Press Monica Heisey’s debut novel, “Really Good, Actually,” is a “hot-girl book.” The 34-year-old comedian mined her own experience as a young divorcee to write a tender yet sharp account of a young woman going through a divorce and her attempt at finding joy in her everyday life. The book, which debuts January 17, has already been optioned for a TV series and is receiving plenty of praise. Here’s everything you need to know about Heisey’s debut novel and its hot-girl book status.     Thanks for reading. You can reach the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca, and Manuela will see you back here Monday.     If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. 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