Toronto landlords are ripping off international students and tainting the city’s reputation

Plus, Ottawa has questions about Ontario’s weakened child care funding rules. [The Star] First Up [By Ashley Okwuosa] By Ashley Okwuosa Good morning. On Friday, the president and CEO of Metrolinx announced that [the much-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT has been delayed yet again](. Here’s the latest. MUST READS R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star HOUSING [Foreign students face rental ripoffs as landlords employ this illegal move]( As competition in Toronto’s rental market stiffens, landlords are demanding up to six months of rent upfront from international students, reports Joshua Chong. The tactic — illegal under Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act — is being used more often as landlords target foreign students who are unfamiliar with rental laws and may not speak English as their first language. [Here’s how the discriminatory practice is harming Toronto’s reputation](. Dreamstime POLITICS [Ontario’s newly weakened child care funding rules are causing concerns]( The federal government is asking Ontario why it changed its funding guidelines for child care operators who join its $10-a-day child care program. The changes removed limits on profit-making by daycares that receive federal funding to appease private daycare owners, reports Rachel Mendleson and Brendan Kennedy. [Here’s why Ontario’s new rules are triggering alarm bells for the federal government and others](. Steve Russell/Toronto Star Housing [Inside Toronto’s plan to turn a homeless shelter into affordable housing]( More than 200 of the Bond Hotel’s remaining residents are moving to new rooms, permanent housing, and shelters across the city — and they’re terrified of where they’ll end up. Earlier this year, Toronto announced that it was purchasing the hotel, which was leased for use as a homeless shelter, and transforming it into affordable housing. [Victoria Gibson reports on how residents are responding to the city’s plan as an inevitable future looms near](. The Canadian Press Hurricane Fiona [Here’s how hurricane Fiona compares to Atlantic Canada’s fiercest storms]( Hurricane Fiona may be a storm of “historic” proportions and one of the biggest to hit Eastern Canada. [Making landfall early this morning]( the storm will bring heavy rains, winds, and a water surge to Cape Breton, report Steve McKinley and Kieran Leavitt. Officials say they are preparing for a “Dorian-level event,” which saw damages of around $80 million and mass outages affecting about 400,000 people in 2019. [Here's everything you need to know about Atlantic Canada's latest storm](. Nick Kozak/Toronto Star Food & DRINK [Consumers are raging about ice-heavy drinks — otherwise known as “ice-flation”]( Diners worry that restaurants and coffee shops are short-changing them by pouring more ice and less of their drinks in their cups. After all, businesses are known to “squeeze a little more money out of consumers” when money is tight. But the ice-to-drink ratio isn’t always about economics. Sometimes, it’s a necessary evil to make a good drink. Here’s Michele Henry’s reporting on [why people are mad about ice-flation](. POV Martin Regg Cohn: Marit Stiles — why she’s [the leader Ontario’s NDP desperately needs](. Dave Sawyer and Ryan Ness: There’s still time to [cut $25 billion worth of climate change costs in half](. Donovan Vincent: What we got wrong about the Ismael Abdulle story, [and how we could have gotten it right](. Lana Payne: [Thousands of workers will suffer if the government doesn’t extend EI measures](. Heather Scoffield: With falling homeownership rates, [is the Canadian dream dying or changing]( Jerry Levitan: [The world is on the precipice of social collapse](. How did we get here? Thomas Walkom: Vladimir Putin issues a warning — [the risk of nuclear war is now extreme](. Bruce Arthur: Absurd as it is, conservatives see the media as the enemy, [making their latest fight a serious matter](. EAT THIS R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star After a two-year closure, popular Toronto chef Nuit Regular has reopened her high-end Thai restaurant, Kiin. The restaurant, which showcases the multi-course style of royal Thai dining once exclusively enjoyed by the upper class, is not cheap eats. [Still, it’s a special occasion dinner that’s more approachable]( writes Karon Liu. Thanks for reading. You can reach 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_146362), and I will see you back here tomorrow. [The Star]( 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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