The hits and misses of the federal budget

Plus, Toronto's new traffic nightmare and what to know about cookies [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on the $480.5-billion federal budget, construction on the Gardiner and your personal online data. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Justin Tang federal politics [The Trudeau government wants Canada’s richest to help pay for its $480.5 billion budget]( With its sights set on housing for a squeezed generation, finance programs for Indigenous people, support for those with disabilities and an expanded Canadian military, the Liberal government is looking towards the investment profits of the richest people in the country to help pay without blowing through its own fiscal targets. By increasing the capital gains tax, the federal government is expecting to collect more than $19 billion in revenue over the coming years, Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall report. [Here’s what we know about the deficit and what opposition parties had to say](. - More: Small businesses will get a carbon levy rebate, [but there’s nothing yet for Indigenous groups who were promised the same](. - Wait, what? Here are 10 highlights from the federal budget — [and one new rule for cellphone providers](. - Armine Yalnizyan’s take: The Liberal budget hit a home run on housing [while playing small ball on the care economy](. - Susan Delacourt’s take: Justin Trudeau has a budget bucket list — [and it’s aimed at Pierre Poilievre](. Mahdis Habibinia/The Star traffic [Gardiner construction is snarling traffic on nearby routes]( A three-year construction project on the Gardiner Expressway has only just started and it’s already causing headaches for Torontonians, Lex Harvey writes. As part of the city’s plan to rehabilitate the aging highway, the stretch between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue has been reduced to two lanes in each direction. “We live in a big city and traffic is always going to be bad,” said an urban planner who got caught in spillover traffic on Saturday. “This was worse than I was expecting.” [These graphics illustrate the changes taking place](. - More: For one Toronto realtor who lives downtown but often drives his partner to work at Pearson airport, it meant his regular 22-minute commute took more than an hour on Monday. - Watch for: Staff will continue monitoring traffic this week and add more measures as needed. The construction is expected to last until mid-2027, with a brief break during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Canadian Press File Photo technology [Should you “accept all cookies”? Here’s where your data is actually going]( It can be a lot easier to “accept all cookies” than to disable them one by one, but doing so without taking into account the integrity of the website you’re browsing can risk your privacy and personal information, Kevin Jiang reports. The trackers monitor your activity and keep tabs on certain information, like your login credentials, browsing history or past purchases. They’ve probably already stored plenty of information about you. [Here’s what you need to know about the risks associated with cookies and how to protect your data](. - Wait, what? “My recommendation usually would be to deny all cookies where possible, and only allow those from trusted sites that are necessary for the functioning of the website,” said Florian Kerschbaum, a professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo and the NSERC/RBC Chair in Data Security. - Go deeper: Some websites sell user data to several, even hundreds, of third parties, Kerschbaum said. “And you’re providing your cookies to all of them.” [Calendar icon] Are our messages a little late for you lately? Emails from the Star are taking longer than normal to arrive to Gmail and Hotmail inboxes after we send them. That's a problem we're solving now, but we're sorry for keeping you waiting. WHAT ELSE The Peel school board is being urged to [remove Nakba Day — marking the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948 — from its calendar of significant dates](. [Toronto police arrested four pro-Palestinian protestors]( who were blocking railway lines in the Junction on Tuesday. Canadians with disabilities are getting help in the federal budget, [but critics warn it’s not enough](. Advocates say Ottawa’s $918 million for Indigenous housing and infrastructure [falls far short of what is needed](. Toronto is getting refugee funding [but there’s no sign of urgently needed cash to buy new subway cars](. [Here’s how public lands will be used to build 1.2 million homes]( as revealed in the budget. [A Toronto cop has admitted he “inaccurately” testified]( and did not see drugs in plain view during an arrest. [Arrests have been made in the $24-million gold and cash heist at Pearson]( Peel Regional Police announced. A highrise project near Bayview Village is [proposing to incorporate Toronto’s first Catholic school in a condo building](. More than 800 airline food workers at Pearson airport are on strike. [Here’s what it means for the workers — and travellers](. With 100 days to go until the Paris Olympics, [Team Canada is focussing not just on winning, but “winning well.”]( [Ontario is backtracking on UP Express service changes]( amid backlash. POV Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images [Iran’s unprecedented attack forces Israel to choose: Retaliation or a reset?]( CLOSE-UP R.J.Johnston/The Star WESTON ROAD: Kay Edgecombe, owner of Old Nassau, holds up the dish that went viral after celebrity food critic Keith Lee gave his review of the Bahamian restaurant. [Here’s a closer look at the “underrated” eatery’s newfound success — and what menu items to try](. 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_212382). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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