Are minimum wage workers getting priced out of Toronto?

Plus, temporary refuge for asylum seekers sleeping on city streets and why Justin Trudeau’s eliminating at least some fossil fuel subsidies [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on asylum seekers abandoned by governments, Ottawa’s fossil fuel subsidies and the soaring cost of living in Toronto. DON’T MISS Richard Lautens/Toronto Star housing [On Peter Street, a community steps up for asylum seekers sleeping on the sidewalk]( A funding dispute between the city and the federal government over who is responsible for housing refugees has left several asylum seekers on the street. While Mayor Olivia Chow calls on the three levels of government to come up with tangible solutions today, business leaders and community members are wasting no time to help. On Monday, Paramount Fine Foods CEO Mohamad Fakih pledged to donate $20,000 for temporary housing, and an outreach worker said some asylum seekers were relocated. [Here’s what advocates say is and isn’t helping](. - Context: Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie implemented a policy that redirects asylum seekers looking for emergency beds in the city’s non-refugee-specific shelters to the federal government. - Matt Elliott’s take: Refugees forced to live on the streets of Toronto is a national disgrace. [Justin Trudeau’s Liberals should wear it](. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Federal politics [The federal government’s long-standing support of the oil and gas sector is about to change]( Ottawa has spent billions helping fossil fuel companies, Alex Ballingall reports. By eliminating at least some subsidies, it will be following through on a promise made in 2009, along with its G20 peers. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s office did not confirm when it would disclose which fossil fuel supports would be cut by the end of the year, but a spokesperson said those details are coming “very soon.” [Here’s what you need to know](. - Wait, what? The Liberals previously promised to meet their pledge by 2025 but moved their deadline to the end of 2023, when they won the last federal election. - More: The upcoming framework is being met with skepticism because Canada is still promising billions of dollars in tax credits to help the sector reduce greenhouse gas emissions — something climate advocates say is unnecessary and expensive.  - Watch for: “If done well, this is a road map for other countries to use,” one climate policy expert said. “If done poorly, it sets a really dangerous framework that will allow other countries to shirk their responsibilities as well.” Lance McMillan/Toronto Star file photo COST OF LIVING [The minimum wage would have to reach $40 an hour for workers to afford living in Toronto]( For a Toronto worker to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment and still have money for food and utilities, they’d have to earn $40 an hour, a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has found. To afford a one-bedroom apartment — $2,572 in Toronto — they’d have to make $33.60 per hour. That’s a far cry from Ontario’s $15.50 minimum wage, Clarrie Feinstein writes. [Here’s why Toronto is so expensive and how it compares to other parts of the country](. - More: Ontario and B.C. are home to the cities with the most unaffordable rent for minimum wage earners: Vancouver, Toronto, Kelowna, Victoria and Ottawa, in that order. - Watch: We asked Toronto residents to guess the monthly rent of these apartments. [Here’s how they did](. - ICYMI: The 30 per cent benchmark for affordable housing is tough. [Here’s what it can afford the average worker in different parts of the GTA](. WHAT ELSE Here’s why experts warn that [advertising a “King’s Counsel” title may violate Ontario lawyers’ rules on misleading marketing](. Metrolinx is under fire for how it’s turfing tenants to make room for the Ontario Line. [The local councillor says its use of NDAs is “egregious.]( [Here’s why Bonnie Crombie is accusing Nate Erskine-Smith of ageism]( in the first fight of the Liberal leadership race. Approximately 3,700 Metro grocery store workers in the GTA could go on strike today. [Here’s what you need to know](. [Etobicoke General Hospital has declared a COVID-19 outbreak](. Police say [a food delivery driver has died after a violent Mississauga carjacking](. With many Canadians struggling to afford basics, [Bank of Canada workers are getting bonuses](. The stars, the storylines and Canada’s shot at history — [here’s everything you need to know about the FIFA Women’s World Cup](. Millions of people around the world experienced record-breaking heat waves Sunday. [Take a look at the conditions](. The agreement that allowed Ukrainian grains to be shipped globally has been cancelled. [Here’s how that puts everyone in a precarious position](. ICYMI McKenna Deighton illustration [This newly engaged 29-year-old got some surprising money advice. Here’s why she should stop saving](. CLOSE-UP Rick Madonik/Toronto Star LESLIEVILLE: Yellow hearts and sunflowers are woven into a fence in honour of Karolina Huebner-Makurat during a vigil at Jimmie Simpson Park on Monday. [Here’s what the husband of the woman killed in a daytime shooting this month had to say](. 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_191781). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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. 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