Why Ontario emissions are headed in the wrong direction

Plus, the trial of an accused cop-killer and keeping young people in Toronto [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. Here’s the latest on Ontario’s gas plant addiction, the trial of an accused cop-killer and young people fleeing Toronto’s housing crisis. DON’T MISS Steve Russell/The Star climate crisis [Ontario had almost eliminated electricity emissions — then Doug Ford came and gas plant use tripled]( Ontario’s gas plants are polluting like it’s 2012, seeing more activity in the last year than they have in more than a decade. A new report shows the province upped its natural gas usage 26 per cent in 2023 from the previous year — the most the plants had been used since 2012, Marco Chown Oved reports. “We’re going in exactly the wrong direction in a time of escalating climate crisis,” environmental advocates say. Gas plant use has doubled in the last three years, and tripled since premier Doug Ford came to power in 2018. In 2017, Ontario was boasting of almost completely eliminating carbon emissions, with a grid that was 96 per cent non-emitting. [How did we get here? ]( - Word from the province: In a statement to the Star, officials defended their gas plant use as a “short term” measure before more sustainable energy sources, like nuclear, could be built. - Go deeper: Although Ontario’s gas generators are meant to be “peaker plants” used only as a last resort when non-emitting sources can’t keep up with demand, [a Star investigation found the plants were being used far more than intended — with those in the GTA running nearly 15 hours every day](. Ontario Superior Court Exhibit courts [“This was not a murder,” the defence argued at the start of the trial of an accused Toronto cop-killer]( Umar Zameer spent Canada Day 2021 sightseeing in downtown Toronto with his pregnant wife and two-year-old son. Hours later, the accountant from Woodbridge would strike and kill a plainclothes police officer with his vehicle in an underground parking garage, Betsy Powell reports. Prosecutors said Zameer “chose to make a series of manoeuvres” with his vehicle that led to the death of veteran officer Const. Jeffrey Northrup. But defence painted a different picture, one in which the family witnessed a stabbing earlier that day and — when rushed by a man and woman demanding they stop and began banging on their car windows — believed they were being ambushed by criminals. [Here is what the defence and prosecution argued as the trial began](. - More: After learning of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, that were [killed because of how they were dressed]( Zameer and his family believed they were being similarly targeted, the defence said. - Word from the prosecution: Prosecutors argued Zameer should have known the two plainclothes officers were police after they said so several times and after one banged on their vehicle window to show her badge. - Context: [Police initially framed Northrup’s death as an “intentional, deliberate act.”]( A 31-year veteran with Toronto police, the slain officer was described as “an absolute gentleman with a heart of gold.” Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star housing [A housing crisis has pushed young families out of Toronto. What would it take to keep them?]( Hannah Siklos and her husband, Sam, once felt uncertain about their future living in the city she grew up in. But now, the couple are making plans that stretch on 10, even 20 years — and it’s all thanks to a century-old row house offering more space than a condo for less cost, Victoria Gibson reports. “Frankly, we were very surprised, overjoyed,” Siklos said of the roughly $800,000 property they secured last fall. As young families flee Toronto in search of more affordable pastures, Siklos’ story highlights the need for what housing observers call the “missing middle” — homes that fall between a condo and a detached house. [Is that what it will take to keep young people in Toronto — and can the city make it happen?]( - Miss something? In a move experts say will bolster Toronto’s stock of mid-sized homes, [councillors allowed for multiplexes to be built citywide last year]( upheaving the city’s long standing “yellowbelt” that limited development to single-family homes. - What we know: [Thousands of newly graduated Torontonians are forced to leave the city due to the affordability crisis]( in an exodus experts warn could hamstring the city’s economy. WHAT ELSE The Trudeau government has [called in the RCMP over suspected fraud worth $5 million on federal contracts](. [Liberal and NDP support for a motion on Palestine and Israel was a “knife to the heart,”]( the families of Oct. 7 victims say. Pierre Poilievre is trying to bait Justin Trudeau into [forcing an election over carbon levy increase](. Amid a doctor shortage, the Ford government is looking at [building a medical school in Vaughan]( sources say. [Auditor’s reports exposed Ottawa’s failure to support Indigenous housing and policing]( AFN national chief says. The OPP doesn’t have to enforce First Nations laws. [Indigenous leaders want the Ford government to do something about it](. Toronto’s Catholic school board has [quietly disbanded a race relations committee to the dismay of former members](. A firework is lit, a boy is shot. [Israel’s use of deadly force against Palestinians is scrutinized](. Canada Child Benefit payments will land in bank accounts today. [Here’s what Ontarians can expect](. The Ford government is denying claims that there is a [“secret plan to pave” Ontario Place](. “He’s just truly a lover of all of it.” [Guillermo del Toro visited a Roncesvalles film shop and nerded out with staff](. One person is dead and another is in hospital after a [late-night shooting in Mississauga](. POV Toronto Police Service [There’s an easy solution to the car-theft crisis. Too bad the Trudeau government isn’t paying attention.]( CLOSE-UP Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star HUMBER BAY: Lakeshore locals are [slamming the city’s decision to replace the sand on Humber Bay Park East with “grapefruit-sized rocks” they say are difficult to navigate]( Omar Mosleh reports. The city says the rocks are necessary to maintain the shoreline and ward off erosion. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_210844). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited digital and ePaper access Spring Sale: Only $1.25/week for 52 weeks! [Get This Offer]( 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. 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