There's no quick fix for Ontario's health care crisis

Plus, keeping international students in Canada and delays getting an Afghan activist a Canadian visa [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on emergency room and intensive care unit closures, new measures to help international students live and work in Canada and a women’s rights activist who fears being deported to Afghanistan while waiting for a Canadian visa. DON’T MISS Paige Taylor White/The Star health care [Ontario’s health minister says there’s no easy way to stop ER and ICU closures]( After the long weekend saw the closure of more than a dozen emergency rooms in smaller hospitals across the province, Health Minister Sylvia Jones has broken her silence. There is no quick fix for ER and ICU closures due to staffing shortages, she said, pointing to health-care worker vacations and the spread of the contagious BA.5 subvariant among front-line staff. [Here’s how Jones says the province is working to ease the strain on the system — and what critics say is needed](. - More: “It is a national and international shortage,” she told the Star in an interview following criticism that she and Doug Ford have been keeping a low profile. - ICYMI: Chief executive of Ontario Health Matthew Anderson told the Star [“there are very, very tough things to solve.”]( - Watch for: Dr. Adil Shamji said the closures and long waits for medical care need to be fixed before COVID-19 hits harder in the fall and winter. Canadian Press/Justin Tang immigration [Canada rolls out measures to help international students stay — and work — in the country]( International students left in an immigration limbo due to pandemic backlogs could now be able to stay and work legally in Canada under interim measures. The long-awaited announcement finally came after Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced in April that a policy would be ready in June. On Tuesday, he attributed the delay to the department’s “antiquated” system. [Here’s what you need to know](. - Watch for: Starting Monday, the immigration department will email people whose work permits have expiration dates between Sept. 20, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022. - By the numbers: Approximately 93,000 people saw their postgraduate work permits expire over the timeline covered by the special policy. - The Star’s take: Sure, Canada is a place where migrants can pursue lives of freedom and fulfilment — until they go to jail. [This is the brutal reality of migrant detention in Canada](. Supplied Photo immigration [Canada said her case was urgent. Four months later, this Afghan women’s activist waits with no visa ]( Stuck in a third country where advocates say Afghan refugees are being sent back to the Taliban, Farzana Adell Ghadiya got a sense of hope when she found out Canada had marked her case as urgent. But months later, she’s still waiting for the opportunity to come here. Although Canada’s immigration minister has spoken about the challenges of getting people out of Afghanistan, Adell Ghadiya’s supporters are baffled at the delay for someone who has been out of the country for nearly a year. [Here is more on the challenges the women’s rights activist faces](. - Context: Adell Ghadiya was chief of staff for the UN Commission on the Status of Women for the Afghan government overthrown by the Taliban. For her safety, the Star is withholding the name of the country where she is currently. - Go deeper: [Here is more on her advocacy and her network of supporters](. - More: As Canada inches towards its goal of welcoming 40,000 Afghans through a special immigration program, advocates are alarmed by what could happen to those who haven’t yet heard from officials. WHAT ELSE Pierre Poilievre is ahead of Conservative leadership rivals with millions in donations. [How did he do it?]( The Pope called residential schools genocide — [so should the House of Commons, an NDP MP says](. Investigators are searching cell records and banking history of this woman missing with her son — [here’s what we know](. [Outraged Richmond Hill residents are urging the city to fight this lawsuit]( from a regional councillor. Developers are expected to delay building 10,000 condos in the GTA — [here’s what that means for renters and owners](. [Look at the seven most expensive projects in Hamilton this year]( as the city passes $1 billion in building permits. Regent Park was one of Canada’s largest social housing neighbourhoods. [Now, this studio there rents for $2,000](. A union wants an 11.7 per cent raise for Ontario education workers, [arguing many are “on the brink of poverty.”]( Hoping to replace Jason Kenney, [Danielle Smith is leading the charge in an ugly race to the bottom](. A man killed in a 2019 crash “loved being a father.” [Now a prosecutor wants higher sentences for impaired driving](. Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order that would protect women travelling for abortion — [here’s how it falls short of advocates’ demands](. [An Amber Alert has ended for an 11-year-old girl in Stratford, Ont.]( POV Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP [These are the great risks — and quiet potential — of Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.]( CLOSE-UP Supplied Photo MISSISSAUGA: Four-year-old Mitchell Nwabuoku was laid to rest Tuesday. The little girl’s last outing took a tragic turn when she got onto GO tracks and was hit by a train. [Her family says she was “somebody everybody loved to be with.”]( 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_137725). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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