A resignation and a shuffle at Queen's Park

Plus, Toronto's housing market and teachers spending on school supplies [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on Steve Clark’s resignation, Toronto’s “catatonic” housing market and the inequity of school supply funds. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Spencer Colby ontario politics [Premier Doug Ford has shuffled his cabinet after housing minister Steve Clark resigned]( On Monday, Steve Clark finally gave in to weeks of mounting pressure amid the Greenbelt land swap scandal and resigned as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. His Labour Day departure came five days after a blistering report from the provincial ethics commissioner and nearly a month after a highly critical auditor general report, Rob Ferguson and Kris Rushowy report. A full RCMP investigation into “irregularities” could come next. In the meantime, a panicked Doug Ford was forced to shuffle his cabinet. [Here]( new cabinet minister lineup](. - More: [Clark had previously refused to resign]( but said in a letter addressed to Ford and posted to social media Monday that he realized he had become a “distraction” for the Progressive Conservatives. - Context: Ford and Clark had repeatedly claimed “the buck stops with me” in the scandal, [but the only person to resign before Monday was Clark’s former chief of staff, Ryan Amato](. - Martin Regg Cohn’s take: [Clark’s departure amounts to a holiday sideshow that changes nothing for a government still giving everything away](. Canadian Press/Evan Buhler real estate [The “catatonic” state of Toronto’s housing market is forecast to continue]( The Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate hikes have brought Toronto’s real estate market to a “grinding halt,” reducing sales and prices, Clarrie Feinstein reports. The drop is a continuation of the price correction from the February 2022 peak, one economist said, and it’s likely prices will decrease another 10 per cent before bottoming out next summer. [Take a look at the challenges — and opportunities — that lie ahead](. - By the number: [Toronto home prices dropped by almost $64,000 in July month over month]( as listings increased and sales decreased. - Word from Queen’s Park: Doug Ford is asking the Bank of Canada to [stop the “devastating” interest rate hikes](. - Susan Delacourt’s take: [Is Canada’s housing crisis about to take a very dark turn?]( Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star education [Why many GTA teachers spend hundreds of dollars a year on classroom supplies]( Teachers routinely spend time and money at garage sales, tracking Facebook Marketplace and making frequent trips to the dollar store to supplement basic classroom supplies. Although Ontario educators are provided with school budgets (funding varies from board to board), those who spoke with the Star said they get about $10 to $20 per pupil, making it challenging even to provide essentials like pencils and paper, Janet Hurley writes. [Take a look at the lengths that some teachers go to in order to give their students an enriching experience](. - Go deeper: “For 25 years of teaching, I have begged, borrowed and bought what our students need,” said Mississauga kindergarten teacher Arlene Murphy, who called the issue “completely inequitable.” - By the numbers: Teachers who spoke with the Star said they spend between $300 to $1,000 of their own money each year, in line with recent figures reported by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. - More numbers: In Ontario in 2019, “the top 10 per cent of fundraising elementary schools raised 33 times the amount raised by the bottom 10 per cent, with some schools reporting raising as much as $100,000,” according to research and advocacy group People for Education. WHAT ELSE He’s called Toronto “a festering cancerous wound.” [Is his group poised to take over Danielle Smith’s party in Alberta?]( TTC officers are accusing the transit agency of [unfairly targeting them in a misconduct investigation](. Some Toronto-area teachers are expressing concern for [another year of tumult and safety concerns](. Canada’s international and domestic students are in the grips of a housing crisis. [Has this group cracked the puzzle?]( The Toronto Metropolitan University men’s soccer team has been [suspended for alleged “serious and concerning behaviour.”]( Money laundering is a “significant problem” in Ontario real estate transactions. [This B.C. company wants to change that](. A woman released from hospital into police custody has died in southern Alberta. [Here’s what we know](. [Extracurricular activities are slowly returning to Ontario schools]( — but it’s happening unequally, a survey has found. The Toronto Zoo board has quietly boosted its CEO’s pay by 20 per cent amid the city’s financial crisis. [Take a look at the numbers](. An Oakville father who lost his son to a drowning accident [wants to see lifeguards at private pool parties](. More Canadians are using smartphones instead of credit cards to pay — [here’s how to do it safely](. Making friends isn’t easy, but this Toronto woman is closing in on [52 new ones in just a year](. POV Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo [Olympic-bound Canadians can take some pressure off and see how far this magical World Cup ride can go.]( CLOSE-UP Lance McMillan/The Star QUEEN STREET: A stern, 10-foot-tall Premier Doug Ford puppet looms over the crowd at the Labour Day Parade in downtown Toronto on Monday. [More than 20,000 workers gathered to celebrate the labour movement amid what many have dubbed the “summer of strikes.” ]( 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_197962). 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. [Unsubscribe From This Newsletter]( [Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts]( [View in Browser]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](