Ford's making a push for less educated police

Plus, a daring escape from Sudan and Afghan soccer players suing Canada [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Ashley Okwuosa] By Ashley Okwuosa Good morning. Here’s the latest on Doug Ford’s police recruitment plans, a GTA family’s escape from Sudan, and why these Afghan nationals are taking Canada to court.  DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Tijana Martin policing [Doug Ford wants to boost police ranks by lowering the education requirements for officers]( In an effort to attract people into policing amid a shortage of officers, Ontario wants to drop the requirement that potential constables have a post-secondary education, reports Rob Ferguson. The controversial plan comes just weeks after the inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting that claimed 22 lives in Nova Scotia recommended the Royal Canadian Mounted Police create a three-year, degree-based model of police education. [Here’s what’s being proposed and why one expert believes it won’t dramatically change how police are hiring](. - Go deeper: Research suggests police officers with university or college degrees have greater communication, problem-solving and social skills and are less likely to use force or get into disciplinary trouble, said a police reform expert at the University of Toronto. - More: The province is also dropping tuition fees of about $15,000 for the basic constable training program — something Ford’s government has already done for personal support workers and some nurses to ease a health-care staffing crunch — and taking in more recruits for police training. Waiving tuition will cost the province about $20 million. Supplied Photo/Nagwa El Mamoun canada [A country in chaos. A harrowing escape. How a GTA family made it out of Sudan]( After more than a week caught up in Sudan’s violent conflict, Nagwa El Mamoun and her family were offered a glimmer of hope in the form of a spot on a plane to the Netherlands. With the help of a relative, the Mississauga family circumvented the looters and checkpoints blocking the streets of Khartoum to make it to the airbase — but by the time they arrived, they were told the plane to the Netherlands had departed. They then learned there was another aircraft, operated by Germany, that could take them. [Omar Mosleh details the family’s daring escape from Sudan](. - ICYMI: Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that [Canada would use a military transport plane to airlift citizens out of Sudan](. - More: Trudeau said Canada is co-ordinating with its allies in the region and looking to help with evacuation efforts, but added “there’s very limited places where those airlifts can happen from.” - By the numbers: Trudeau said Monday that 58 Canadians left Sudan on a German flight. On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said that 100 Canadians had by then made it out of Sudan and thanked Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for their help in the evacuation. She said 1,700 Canadians were registered with the government as being in Sudan — 550 of them have asked for assistance. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images afghanistan [“Please help” — Female soccer players hiding in Afghanistan sue Canada to honour its promise]( Two female Afghan national soccer team players still in hiding in Afghanistan are part of a group of six Afghan nationals suing the Canadian government to force it to honour what they say was a promise of refuge in Canada, according to new revelations in court documents. A legal challenge filed by lawyers Maureen Silcoff and Sujit Choudhry on the players’ behalf paints a dire picture of their plight and argues Canada should issue a visa for them to enter, saying “facilitation letters” they received via FIFA and a Canadian senator’s office amounted to a promise of just that. [Tonda MacCharles speaks with one of the players and breaks down why Ottawa is pushing back against the veracity of the facilitation letters](. - Go deeper: Others who are part of the lawsuit filed affidavits with vivid accounts of fearing retribution particularly from Keramuudin Karim, former president of the Afghan Football Federation, whom FIFA sanctioned after finding him guilty of raping, sexually abusing and harassing female players. The lawsuit says he has publicly aligned himself with the Taliban. - Word from Ottawa: In its written court brief and in parliamentary testimony, the federal immigration department insists that the facilitation letter the soccer players and more than 500 other Afghan nationals received was not an officially-issued document, does not authorize entry to Canada and does not oblige Ottawa to do more to aid the Afghans’ escape. [Food Crawl newsletter] Where should you eat next? If you’re wondering where to eat as the city heats up, you need Food Crawl, the Star’s free food newsletter. Whether it’s a strip mall standout or a downtown gem, Food Crawl will make you an insider on the best eats in Toronto and beyond. [Sign up for free here](. WHAT ELSE [Doug Ford now says the province will build a new community centre or school]( at the Science Centre site after the museum is relocated. Did Chinese meddling really hurt the Conservatives in 2021 election? [“We don’t know,” campaign director now acknowledges](. A new COVID subvariant is spreading quickly. [Here’s what you need to know](. This Eglinton LRT stop is being ripped up before it has even opened. [Here’s why](. Trudeau’s Liberals are dropping a plan to expand a list of banned guns — [but amendments are coming](. [Canada is mulling a national breast implant registry]( years after a Star investigation revealed health risks. “They are both warlords with a terrible record.” [Why there are no easy answers in Sudan](. Two military vessels have arrived off Sudan’s coast to [get Canadian citizens out](. [A Toronto police constable has been charged]( following an SIU investigation. [Here are the lesser-known Toronto residents running for mayor](. “I’m the one who suffered the most,” says the [woman accused of Toronto lawyer Scott Rosen’s murder](. One year after taking on a new name, [Toronto Metropolitan University reflects on change](. ICYMI Naomi Baker/FIFA via Getty Images [Threatened. Humiliated. Blacklisted. Inside the culture of fear that muzzled and penalized women who exposed abuse at Canada Soccer.]( CLOSE-UP Leslie Hassler/AP Photo NEW YORK: Actor and singer Harry Belafonte poses for a portrait at a New York recording studio, Nov. 1, 2001. Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home. He was 96. [Here’s how the entertainer became the epitome of the celebrity activist]( 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_178502). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited access to the Star Sale: Only $2/month for a limited time [Get This Offer]( 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. One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON M5E 1E6. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](