Google's following in Meta's footsteps

Plus, a "targeted" stabbing in Waterloo and how York Memorial turned things around [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. [Here’s what to do in Toronto this Canada Day long weekend]( plus the latest on Ottawa’s recently passed online news bill, the University of Waterloo attack and York Memorial’s first graduating class. DON’T MISS Alastair Grant/AP Photo media [Google will block access to Canadian news for anyone living in Canada ]( In six months, Google will join Meta in blocking Canadian news from its platforms — dealing a heavy blow to the journalism industry as it struggles to navigate its future, Raisa Patel reports. The announcement comes after the federal government passed the Online News Act last week, which would force the platforms to strike deals with Canadian publishers to feature news content. [Here are some differences you’ll start to notice from Google and the impact it will likely have on Canadian news](. - Word from Google Canada: The company said it “linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times” in 2022, amounting to an “estimated $250 million worth of value to Canadian publishers.” - Word from Ottawa: Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez offered no solutions Thursday but reiterated that the law “levels the playing field by putting the power of big tech in check.” He told the Star he doesn’t make decisions based on threats and he “never will.” Canadian Press/Nicole Osborne crime [The University of Waterloo attacker “targeted” a gender studies class]( Three people in a class examining the construction of gender were stabbed Wednesday afternoon in what investigators believe was a planned “hate-motivated incident related to gender expression and gender identity.” The injuries of the victims — the 38-year-old professor who is a woman, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man — are not life threatening, The Record’s Cheyenne Bholla, Brent Davis and Terry Pender report. [Here’s what students and police recounted about the scene](. - Word from the university president: “There are those who would like to intimidate us,” he said. “They want us to be afraid — afraid to learn, afraid to share, afraid to speak our truths. But we will not let them deter us from proclaiming loudly our values of inclusion and openness.” - Context: The attack adds to a crumbling sense of safety as gender-based violence increases in Canada and the U.S. [Here are some of the concerns expressed by academics and others in the Waterloo community after the attack](. Nick Kozak for the Toronto Star education [First, teachers refused work at York Memorial, then the students walked out. Here’s how the school year ended]( York Memorial Collegiate Institute has just seen its first graduating class. While the school year began with chaos, fights and walkouts from both teachers and students, the graduates said they ended their run feeling united, Isabel Teotonio reports. “There is no school in Toronto that has gone through what you all have experienced this year,” a trustee told graduates Monday. “Each one of you displayed the ability to overcome adversity and hardship.” [Take a look at the challenges the students, staff and administrators endured and how the school managed to turn things around](. - Context: Several administrators came and went in the first semester of the school year, while the school had few hall monitors and a shortage of teachers led to cancelled classes. - More: “I got the impression that it was going to be challenging — and it is,” said Donald Drummond, a principal who joined the school halfway through the year and was determined to help. WHAT ELSE The little girl found last May in a Rosedale dumpster has been identified. [Here’s what we do and don’t know about her](. Canada has one of the lowest inflation rates in the G7. [Does the Bank of Canada really need to push rates higher?]( Doug Ford is pressuring Trudeau to help Toronto. [This is what he had to say about the city’s finances](. Inflation is falling, but prices remain stubbornly high. [This is how rate hikes make the powerful more powerful](. Honey and Barry Sherman’s son has donated $52 million to build an NHL-sized rink complex honouring his parents. [Is it growing the rift between the family?]( The U.S. Supreme Court has outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. [Here’s what the Conservative achievement means for equity initiatives](. Here’s how Olivia Chow plans to [tackle issues around Toronto’s air quality](. A teen girl has been arrested after [setting off fireworks on a TTC bus](. [Artificial sweetener aspartame has been linked to cancer]( a leaked WHO decision reveals. Are most diets doomed to fail? [Here’s what experts say actually works for weight loss](. Fun is officially back in Toronto. [Here are 20 things (many of them free) to put on your summer bucket list](. Sue Johanson made it OK for Canadians to talk about sex. [Here’s how she’s being remembered](. POV Canadian Press/Arlyn McAdorey [More people voted against Olivia Chow than voted for her. Is there a better way to run an election?]( CLOSE-UP Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images FRANCE: Mounia, the mother of a teen shot dead by police who has been identified only by his first name, Nahel, waves a flare during a commemoration march for her son in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on Thursday. [Here’s the latest on the protests and arrests playing out in the French capital](. Before I go, a story in Monday’s edition incorrectly said a man drowned at Toronto’s Sunnyside pool. He actually drowned at Sunnyside Beach. Toronto police initially provided inaccurate information to the Star. 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_189190). Have a safe long weekend and I’ll see you back here on Tuesday. BEST OFFER OF THE YEAR Canada Day sale: $3.33/month for 12 months [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. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](