Ford's fear of Poilievre could send Ontarians to the polls

Plus, an acquittal after two years in jail and updating Canada's immigration laws [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. Here’s the latest on Ontario’s potential snap election, one man’s acquittal after two years in jail and how Canada can fix its outdated immigration laws. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld star exclusive [Insiders say a fear of a Pierre Poilievre victory has Doug Ford considering a snap election]( Premier Doug Ford is considering an early election call over concerns about funding cuts a future federal Conservative government might make, the Star has learned. Should Pierre Poilievre win the next federal election — expected to happen in 2025 — provinces would see reduced transfer payments, a scrapping of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s electric-vehicle strategy and other cuts that would hurt the Progressive Conservatives, Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson report. Tory insiders say Ford, who refused to commit to the planned 2026 election Friday, was getting in front of a “tough budget” from Poilievre at a time when the party still enjoys a lead over the Liberals. [Would a snap election help — or hinder — Ford’s Tories?]( - Go deeper: Not all Ford insiders were bullish on the plan. Some fear a reprise of 1990, when popular Liberal premier David Peterson called a snap vote only to lose to the NDP in a stunning upset. - Miss something? Poilievre’s anticipated cuts are a major reason why Ford is paying the Beer Store $225 million to liberalize booze sales, bringing beer and wine to corner stores after Labour Day — [a deal critics warn could cost taxpayers between $600 million and $1 billion](. Nick Iwanyshyn for The Star courts [After two years in jail, a jury took just two hours to find him not guilty]( Timothy Clarke Anthony spent two years in jail awaiting trial for a fatal hit-and-run that shocked the Hagersville community. Once his day in court arrived, it took a jury just two hours to find him not guilty, Jacques Gallant reports. “I wasn’t sure what they were going to think,” the 37-year-old said. “I’m an Indigenous man in a white court.” In the 2021 incident, the motorcycle driven by 21-year-old Alexander Dalton was hit from behind by a speeding Chevrolet Tahoe, throwing him from his vehicle and into the path of oncoming traffic. Anthony was arrested for his alleged involvement, despite evidence to the contrary, after another suspect in the case claimed he was behind the wheel. [Take a closer look at what happened](. - Context: The defence noted witness descriptions of the driver didn’t match Anthony’s profile and his DNA wasn’t present in the vehicle. The evidence against Anthony was “essentially reliant on a witness who had all the reason in the world to lie,” his lawyer, Tonya Kent, said. - The fallout: Kent said Anthony’s case was another example of a prosecution that should never have happened. But despite the weak evidence against him, he was repeatedly denied bail and kept in jail until last month. Canadian Press/Justin Tang star exclusive [A new report suggest ways of bringing Canada’s immigration laws into the present]( Canada’s legislation has lagged behind its increasingly complex immigration system, causing immigrants, foreign workers and more to fall through the cracks, Nicholas Keung reports. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was proclaimed in 2001 and hasn’t been comprehensively reviewed since then — despite the nation’s rapidly shifting demographic, social and economic priorities. A new document being released today aims to fix that. After being in the works for almost a year, the report from the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association outlines recommendations from repealing outdated sections to amending inconsistencies in the legislation. [Here’s an overview of its suggestions](. - What we know: Some of the proposed changes include permitting people to get their permanent resident card while abroad, repealing rules that bar foreign nationals with certain health conditions from entry and establishing a public-facing ombudsperson. - Meanwhile: Despite Canada now taking in more immigrants than ever, recent data suggests fewer and fewer of them are becoming citizens. [Is the declining “market value” of being Canadian at fault?]( WHAT ELSE Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap” that [Palestinians sheltering in tents were incinerated by an Israeli airstrike on Rafah Sunday](. Ottawa is boosting the visa program for Palestinians fleeing Gaza, [giving thousands more the chance to join their families in Canada](. U of T is asking the court to authorize police to arrest people at encampment. [Here’s what happens next](. Is The Beer Store finished? [Experts say retail operations will likely close as corner stores start selling beer](. [More than $33 million in stolen vehicles have been recovered in Project Odyssey](. New polls show the Mississauga mayoral byelection is [shaping up to be a tight race](. Parents at this Toronto public school started an unofficial breakfast program. [Red tape and complaints from the adjoining Catholic school shut it down](. Toronto police have released a video of the suspect vehicle after a [Saturday shooting at a North York Jewish school](. Record-low sales of new homes offer [“plenty of opportunities” for GTA homebuyers](. Here’s why the $10 million LifeLabs class action [payout was just $7.86 per claimant](. Donald Trump, that naked dress and a red carpet Karen: [Here are the top eight moments from the Cannes Film Festival](. Kate Middleton might not appear in public again until 2025. [Here’s what we know](. POV Kent Nishimura/Getty Images [Fiscal Armageddon looms and no one in power wants to talk about it. Here’s why you should be afraid.]( CLOSE-UP Mahdis Habibinia/The Star FLEMINGDON PARK: Toronto traffic control operators preside over monitors of data streamed in from rooftop cameras, drones and other new tech — all part of a pilot project attempting to ease the city’s traffic woes. [Here’s how it works](. Before I go, yesterday’s newsletter noted the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto started on May 5, when it was actually set up on May 2. Sorry for any confusion. 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_214244). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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