How the rate hikes meant to squash inflation are contributing to it 😵‍💫

Plus, a class action against police carding and the fall COVID-19 wave [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on Toronto police’s now-outlawed practice of carding, the fall COVID-19 wave and the ironic cycle of increased rates and inflation. DON’T MISS Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star policing [A class action lawsuit targets Toronto police’s practice of carding stops]( Ayaan Farah says she has little recollection of the 2011 encounter that changed her life. The Black woman was stopped and questioned by Toronto police while sitting in public — an interaction in which the police linked her to three individuals with criminal records, a lawsuit says. The documentation of that stop led to Farah being suspended without pay from her longtime job years later despite having no criminal record. Now, Farah is the face of a class action suit over “carding,” the now-outlawed and racially skewed Toronto police practice of stopping, questioning and documenting people in non-criminal encounters, Jim Rankin and Wendy Gillis report. [Here’s what else you need to know about the case and carding](. - Go deeper: Toronto’s racialized community has suffered socially, psychologically and economically due to carding, a University of Toronto criminologist said. For instance, some young people have told him they’ve stopped walking through their communities to avoid being subjected to a random stop. - Context: Repeated Toronto Star investigations since 2010 have shown that [Toronto cops stopped Black people, and to a lesser extent people with “brown” skin, at higher rates than white people](. Canadian Press/Nathan Denette health [The fall wave of COVID-19 is starting early ]( Surveillance data by the Ontario government shows that COVID-19 cases are up — but booster shots tailored to the more immune-evasive variants aren’t expected to be available until fall, Patty Winsa reports. Altogether, the conditions could stretch already-strained emergency rooms in Canada, even as the country faces some of the lowest infection rates since the Omicron era. [Take a closer look at the strain making the rounds and how the coming months could play out](. - Wait, what? In Canada, COVID-19 virus activity has been in a long period of decline since December 2022, “so the start of a rebound is not unexpected in any way,” said Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist and epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. - Watch for: “From my own research, I can tell you that the time to get the biggest bang for your buck is to start vaccinating people at the start of a wave, when they’re most likely to get ill,” said Canada Research Chair in aging and immunity at McMaster University Dawn Bowdish, “because that just cuts down the number of infections and helps the wave end that much faster.” Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld economy [Rate hikes meant to cool inflation are likely making inflation worse]( Canada’s inflation rate rose 3.3 per cent in July compared to the year before, Statistics Canada announced Tuesday. That’s up from 2.8 per cent in June and much higher than the three per cent that economists surveyed by Bloomberg had anticipated, Josh Rubin reports. According to the data, the biggest single contributor to the increase was higher mortgage interest. [Not only is that ironic — it says a lot about the Bank of Canada’s attempts to cool inflation](. - By the numbers: The new inflation figure is far below the 8.1 per cent peak last June, but it’s still above the central bank’s two per cent target. - Wait, what? In an attempt to cool inflation, the central bank began an aggressive rate-hike campaign that has brought the key overnight lending rate to its highest point in 22 years. - More irony: Economists told the Star the data may put pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise its key overnight lending rate again at its Sept. 6 rate announcement. - More: Mortgage holders are opting for shorter terms amid high rates — [setting the stage for a potentially dangerous wave of renewals](. WHAT ELSE Pierre Poilievre has avoided talking about gender identity politics — [but that may change soon](. What's the first step toward solving veterans’ homelessness? [Actually understanding it](. [The NDP has permanently barred an MPP from caucus]( after an internal investigation substantiated several allegations of “workplace misconduct.” [Two more people have been charged in connection to the fatal Leslieville shooting]( including a supervised injection site employee. The University of Waterloo says it’s [removing course details from its public website after a triple stabbing in a gender studies class](. Toronto Metropolitan University has cancelled new admissions to its Egypt campus weeks before classes are set to begin. [Here’s what we know](. A sharp rise in the number of food couriers commuting into Toronto’s core has[left GO Transit struggling — and the workers scrambling](. Can Donald Trump weather nine trials without at least one charge sticking? [We’ll find out in 2024](. [Madonna will perform in Toronto in January after her hospital delay](. The CNE returns this Friday. [Here’s everything you need to know](. POV Canadian Press/Cole Burston [Ministerial responsibility is paramount in Canada’s government structure — does it mean anything to Doug Ford?]( CLOSE-UP Canadian Press/Angela Gzowski YELLOWKNIFE: Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky on Tuesday as sandhill cranes feed. Thousands of Northwest Territories residents have fled the 236 wildfires blazing through the northern boreal forest. [With 20,000 square kilometres already burned, firefighters are looking to the skies for a break](. 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_195192). 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. 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