How an autistic teen ended up Tasered, handcuffed and in hospital

Plus, Toronto needs a bail out, and tow truckers paid to not help [Get access now!]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Toronto health inspectors found [major infractions at these 24 restaurants this week](. Here’s the latest on police Tasering an autistic teen, why there could be “massive” tax hikes in Toronto and the Emergencies Act inquiry. DON’T MISS Supplied Photo police [Police tasered a non-verbal autistic teen in a “very big failure” of the system]( Abdullah, 19, requires around-the-clock supervision. But on Nov. 4, the non-verbal autistic teen left home wearing only shorts and ended up a few houses away, his father Majd Darwich said. By the time he rushed out to find him, police had cordoned off a section of the street, and Abdullah was face down, handcuffed and surrounded by police. “When I looked at his face, it was full with blood,” Darwich said. “He was looking to me to help him and I couldn’t do anything for him.” [Jason Miller reports on the incident, the crisis services available to police and the resulting trauma](. - Word from Peel police: Police told the Star they received a 911 call about a suspicious person in a state of undress, attempting to enter a vehicle and a house. Upon arrival, he “appeared to be in distress and was not responding to officers.” - Go deeper: Two years ago, the family added Abdullah to the Peel Police Vulnerable Persons Registry, which allows caregivers to provide critical information about vulnerable persons that can then be accessed by police in emergency and crisis situations, exactly the type of case officers were called about Abdullah, said Darwich. R.J. Johnston/The Star city hall [John Tory is calling on the province and federal government to bail out Toronto]( Toronto needs another $815 million to balance this year’s budget as required by law — and John Tory is turning to Queen’s Park and Ottawa for help, David Rider reports. If the governments don’t pour money into the city by Nov. 30, Toronto will have to cut services, increase taxes or reduce its capital budget, “which will eliminate thousands of jobs and threaten our economic recovery,” the mayor wrote in a letter to the provincial and federal governments. [Here’s a closer look at the city’s finances](. - More: “The entirety of the amounts requested are as a direct result of the pandemic and the necessary measures taken to deal with the consequences of the pandemic,” Tory wrote in the letter. - Go deeper: Tory was elected to a third term in October, promising to keep the 2023 property tax hike below the rate of inflation. Critics accuse him of making the city vulnerable to crisis by championing low taxes, failing to introduce revenue sources and insisting on a costly elevated Gardiner Expressway rebuild. Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh emergencies act inquiry [Tow truckers said they were paid to refuse to help clear the Alberta border blockade, inquiry hears]( Tow-truck operators told mounties in Alberta that they were being paid to refuse to clear a highway blockade near the U.S. border during last winter’s so-called “Freedom Convoy,” the Emergencies Act inquiry heard Thursday. The issue had caused tension between Alberta and Ottawa, as provincial officials accused the federal government of being reluctant to provide military assistance, Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall report. [Here’s more on the challenges police and government faced in ending the blockade and the efforts that followed](. - Context: The Public Order Emergency Commission, which is investigating how and why Justin Trudeau’s government took the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act, has many times focused on the difficulties of recruiting tow trucks to help deal with the occupation. The government has said the invocation was necessary in part to give police the ability to force tow-truck operators to help clear blockading vehicles. - Meanwhile: Documents offer a rare look into a meeting between Trudeau and premiers hours before the Emergencies Act was invoked. [Here’s what it reveals about different leaders’ stances on the use of the Act](. WHAT ELSE Two Indigenous veterans [reflect on their service and history of unequal treatment](. [Here’s what’s open and closed]( in Toronto this Remembrance Day. The Ford government has withdrawn its application to have CUPE’s strike declared illegal. [Here’s what that means for bargaining](. Here’s what Canada’s chief public health officer has to say about [COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus flooding hospitals](. [These are nine of Doug Ford’s biggest flip-flops since becoming premier](. [GO Buses will be back Saturday]( after workers reached a tentative deal with Metrolinx. Tim Hortons’ chicken soup has been recalled for the “presence of insects.” [Here’s what we know](. Renovicted from Toronto after 23 years, she moved to Brockville — [and it’s suiting her fine](. The city has begun an emergency effort to clear dead raccoons following a distemper outbreak. [Here’s what we know about the deadly virus](. Ontario’s cottage country is getting this life-saving Swedish road safety re-design — [that could eventually be seen elsewhere](. Donald Trump is now the Republican Party’s drunk designated driver. [Nobody wants him behind the wheel](. The insider’s guide to Brampton: [Actor and director Kiran Rai shares some favourite spots in her hometown](. POV Steve Russell/The Star [How Doug Ford’s short-sighted housing bill will undermine long-term prosperity — and incur incalculable costs.]( CLOSE-UP Jerome Delay/AP Photo SOMALIA: Huts made of branches and cloth provide shelter to Somalis displaced by drought on the outskirts of Dollow in September. Africa needs funds to adapt to the climate crisis, leaders and negotiators said at the U.N. climate summit. [Take a closer look at the issue.]( 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_153384). Ashley will see you back here tomorrow. 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