Plus, why Canada and Italy are beefing over wheat [Get access now!]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. I’ll be filling in for Ashley this weekend. [The federal government is extending EI benefits to 26 weeks, up from 15 weeks](. Here’s the latest. MUST READS
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press EMERGENCIES ACT INQUIRY [Justin Trudeau says he’s “serene” he made the right call to use Emergencies Act]( On the final day of testimony in a federal inquiry that spanned six weeks, Justin Trudeau stood firmly by his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act during last winter’s “Freedom Convoy.” Trudeau reasoned that had the federal government not taken this step, the protestors could have provoked serious violence. Alex Ballingall and Tonda MacCharles report on [the government’s most direct explanation for taking this unprecedented step during the occupation of downtown Ottawa](. Plus, the prime minister told the inquiry that he didn’t have confidence in the Ottawa police response to the Convoy, and wasn’t informed of RCMP plans to end the blockades. [Here is the scathing assessment he gave to the inquiry about the police](.
Jim Rankin/Toronto Star POLICING [He says he was arrested unfairly by Toronto police. The arresting officers’ colleague dismissed his complaint]( When Corey David protested the clearing of homeless encampments outside 14 Division in 2021, police violently arrested him. He alleges he was not told he was under arrest and was unlawfully arrested and subjected to unnecessary force. But after filing a complaint through Ontario’s civilian-run Office of the Independent Police Review Director, an officer from the same police station investigated his case and found the allegations to be unsubstantiated. Jim Rankin reports on [Corey’s disturbing complaint, which is only one of several about police handling of the encampment clearings that were either dismissed or rejected](.
Jeremy Fokkens/Toronto Star What's in our wheat? [Is there pesticide in your spaghetti? Canada’s golden wheat reputation hangs on the outcome of a pasta war]( Canada is the second-largest producer of durum wheat, used in semolina to make pasta and couscous, but its reputation has been marred by controversy. Leading personalities in Italy’s agribusiness claim the country is tainting its supply with the pesticide glyphosate. In the first of a three-part series, Marie-Claude Lortie finds that in Italy, nobody says they use Canadian wheat — but everyone knows someone who does. And in Canada, no farmer says they use glyphosate, but everyone knows somebody who has. [Could it be disinformation that’s pushing controversy — or is it something more complex](
R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star CITY HALL [An inside look at how a Toronto city council revolt against “strong mayor” powers came together — and why it fell apart]( On Thursday, a co-ordinated effort to force a council vote on the extraordinary powers being granted to Mayor John Tory fell flat thanks to a single vote. With a handful of key councillors on his side, the mayor successfully blocked debate on the new powers that critics are calling an attack on the most basic tenet of democracy, Ben Spurr reports. With interviews from city hall insiders, Ben paints the picture of [how the mini-revolt was meant to unfold and how one councillor’s surprising reaction set the plan back](.
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press CLIMATE CRISIS [We can now definitively blame Western Canada’s deadly heat dome on climate change]( Last summer, a “record-smashing, unprecedented historic heat wave” in Western Canada and the northwestern United States killed 619 people in British Columbia alone and 1,400 across the region. The heat dome would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate warming, a new study has found. If warming continues, Canadians can expect similar heat waves every 10 years by 2050. Steve McKinley reports on [the factors that contributed to the deadly event and why the rate of warming is “really scary even to climate scientists]( POV Rick Salutin: The climax of the Emergencies Act hearings is supposed to be Justin Trudeau — [but the best part came at the start](. Shree Paradkar: [How media criticisms of Qatar during the World Cup are both accurate and unfair](. Editorial: Canada is on a slippery slope with MAiD. [Here’s why we have to put the brakes on expanding access](. Bob Hepburn: To Pierre Poilievre, everything is broken in Canada. [What’s broken is the hope that he would ditch his reckless ideas](. Armine Yalnizyan: Slowing inflation could take a long time — [what if our plan isn’t working]( Rosie DiManno: It was the best we could do — but it shouldn’t be, now. [Why Ontario’s senior isolation rules should be loosened](. EAT THIS
R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star A suburban mainstay for the past two decades, Congee Queen has finally arrived at downtown Toronto — and it’s offering more than 300 menu options. Here, you can choose from congee, rice-based noodles, flour-based noodles, and rice, each having dozens of iterations. [President Peter Cheung tells Karon Liu about how the restaurant was born and grew into the booming franchise it is today](. Thank you 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_155766). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited access to the Star Subscribe for our best offer of the year: $12 for 12 months [Get Access Now]( 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. [Unsubscribe From This Newsletter]( [Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts]( [View in Browser]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
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