Can we trace the root of Ontario’s pediatric health crisis?

Plus, the story of Canada’s history of capital punishment [Get access now!]( [The Star] First Up [By Ashley Okwuosa] By Ashley Okwuosa Good morning. [Tributes and donations are pouring in for Vanessa Kurpiewska]( the 31-year-old woman who died after being stabbed at High Park Station last Thursday. Here’s the latest. MUST READS Lars Hagberg/For the Toronto Star Health [Pediatric care in Ontario is in crisis. How did we get here?]( Children are in need of intensive care, their surgeries have been cancelled, and thousands of children and families are facing record-long waits in the ER. One health expert describes the crisis as a “100-year-flood,” as Kenyon Wallace and Megan Ogilvie report on an increasingly underfunded and undersized pediatric health system that’s straining to meet the demands of the province’s growing population. So, the pressing question is, how has Ontario — one of the richest jurisdictions in the world — come to this? [Read more for the roots of the current, unprecedented situation in children’s hospitals — and the decisions that led us to where we are now](. Chris Young/The Canadian Press PROVINCIAL POLITICS [Even though it wasn’t the deal she wanted, here’s why CUPE’s president wanted school workers to take the Ford government’s contract offer anyway]( Following a strike, the threat of another one, and tense talks with the provincial government, Laura Walton was visibly unhappy with the tentative deal both sides reached last month. “I think it falls short,” Walton told the reporters. So, why did she vote in its favour? Kristin Rushowy reports that Walton felt moving forward with a potential strike was a Catch-22. “Do you withdraw service to get service? What do we do?” she said. [Here’s why she waited until the last minute to vote for the deal and her advice to the teachers unions who continue to negotiate with the province](. UPI file photo Last to the Gallows [60 years ago marked the end of capital punishment in Canada. Here’s the story of the last two men to be executed]( Although capital punishment did not officially end until 1976, Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin were the last men to be executed in 1962. Their deaths, which occurred 60 years ago to this date — December 11 — still resonate today with fundamental questions of racism and fairness, writes Peter Edwards. Lucas, 54, a Black man accused of murdering an underworld associate, maintained his innocence till the end. And Turpin, 29, was a petty criminal who killed a Toronto police officer after being pulled over. [Here’s how their deaths led to major changes in Canada’s justice system](. Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press Islamophobia [Here’s how a four-year study mapped out “The Canadian Islamophobia Industry”]( In a new report titled “The Canadian Islamophobia Industry: Mapping Islamophobia’s ecosystem in the Great White North,” Wilfrid Laurier professor Jasmin Zine explores the workings of the Canadian Islamophobia machine. Influencers like Faith Goldy and Lauren Southern and “Muslim dissidents” and “ex-Muslims,” who use “insider” status to promote anti-Islamic narratives, position the religion and its followers as existential threats, writes Shree Paradkar. Islamophobia has had an insidious and deadly impact in Canada, with the murder of Muslims in Quebec City in 2017, and London, Ont., in 2021. [Here’s what Zine says must be done to combat the “formidable and lucrative business of Islamophobia” in Canada](. Dreamstime TECHNOLOGY [A Star reporter wrote a story about ChatGPT’s AI, then dared it to write a better one]( Can machines think? It’s a question Alan Turing posed in 1950. This week, artificial intelligence laypeople may have gotten their answer with the launch of ChatGPT, a software designed to generate human-like responses to a wide range of inputs. But how well does it work? Allan Woods put the software up to writing a fairly believable love poem for his wife, a sonnet for his editor, and a haiku for the Star’s editor-in-chief. But the real test came when Allan dared it to rewrite and improve his article. We’ll let you be the judge. [Read Allan’s story about ChatGPT’s AI and the software’s take on the piece](. UP CLOSE Naomi baker/Getty Images Remember when Jessie Fleming scored that penalty kick against the U.S. that gave Canada the lead in the semi-final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Well, we finally know the story behind it. In her memoir, “Playing The Long Game,” Christine Sinclair, the Canadian women’s national team captain and top international goal scorer of all time, shares [the story behind the historic moment and how the national team went on to win gold](. GIFT THIS Cheesy Place When it comes to holiday gift-giving, you can’t go wrong with food. It’s foolproof, writes Debra Norton. Plus, with everything from cheese-of-the-month subscriptions to hard-to-find spices, [this gift guide for the Toronto foodie]( has something for everyone, yourself included. 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_158206), and Manuela will see you back here Monday. Become a Star subscriber and save! 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