Labour trafficking isn't limited to a few "bad actors"

Plus, an increase in hate crimes and Pierre Poilievre's makeover [The Star] First Up [By Jordan Tamblyn] By Jordan Tamblyn Good morning. Here’s the latest on Canadian companies allegedly reaping the benefits of labour trafficking, an explosion of hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim Canadians and Pierre Poilievre’s makeover.  DON’T MISS Carlos Osorio for The Star star investigation [How some of Ontario’s most recognizable companies have become embroiled in alleged labour exploitation schemes]( Even in the Holland Marsh, a verdant stretch of land known as Canada’s “salad bowl,” Gwillimdale Farms stands out. The sprawling 2,000-acre operation has served as the backdrop for political announcements by Premier Doug Ford and benefitted last spring from a provincial grant to “address labour shortages.” Around the same time, the farm was sourcing workers through middlemen now accused of labour trafficking, Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Rachel Mendleson report. From major hotel chains to one of the country’s largest manufacturers, [here’s a look at some of the companies allegedly connected to worker exploitation schemes](. - More: “Our policy-making continues to treat these issues as if they are isolated examples of bad actors,” said labour and human rights lawyer Fay Faraday. “(This) is a core practice in our economy. This is not some shady thing happening on the side. This is big business.” - ICYMI: In Part 1 of Work Forced, the Star took you inside an “industrial” labour trafficking ring run by a seemingly ordinary mom. [Here’s what it shows about Toronto’s pipeline of exploited labour](. Richard Lautens/The Star israel-hamas war [How war in the Middle East has destroyed the sense of safety for Jewish and Muslim Canadians]( The rising death toll in the Israel-Hamas conflict is sending shockwaves around the world. From Gaza to Toronto, communities with ties to Israelis and Palestinians are stretched to their emotional limits, struggling to mourn the deaths of their friends and relatives overseas while feeling threatened and persecuted here at home, Marco Chown Oved reports. From graffiti, to bullying in schools and workplaces, to outright assault, [here’s a look at the struggle that some are facing here at home]( - By the numbers: Reports of hate crimes have gone up 132 per cent, according to Toronto police, while informal reports of racist incidents have shot up more than 300 per cent at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and 1,300 per cent at the National Council of Canadian Muslims. - Go deeper: “This is probably the worst experience of Islamophobia we’ve had ever since 9/11,” says the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “Everything from just insults in the streets to women in hijabs being spit on, to people being physically assaulted.” Toronto Star Photo Illustration federal politics [Conservative insiders are trying to boost Pierre Poilievre’s image. Is it working?]( The team close to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has had a busy year. They got him to ditch the glasses, update his wardrobe and launch a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in a bid to get Canadians’ attention on his economic message — and according to recent polling data, it’s working. “Poilievre has made a lot of progress in a very short period of time,” says Abacus CEO David Coletto. [Here’s how Canadians are reacting to Poilievre in full campaign mode and whether it will be enough to tip the election in the Tories’ favour](. - Not so fast: Coletto says a lingering liability for Poilievre is that his views are still seen by some as extreme — and his recent comments about “radical gender ideology” have LGBTQ advocates sounding the alarm. - Susan Delacourt’s take: Justin Trudeau is in a lot of trouble right now — [just not with Jagmeet Singh](. WHAT ELSE [The debate over the “from the river to the sea” chant is raging]( after a protester was charged in Calgary a few weeks ago. [Police have identified the 61-year-old killed in North York]( after a man allegedly mowed down three people with his car. [Why are taxpayers still in the dark about ArriveCan]( the botched COVID app that cost millions of dollars? Trudeau’s environment minister is trying to quash rumours he’s going to [resign over the carbon price walkback](. [Gary Bettman speaks on alleged sexual assault]( the Canadian world junior team, Pride jerseys and neck guards. [Sean “Diddy” Combs is being accused of years of rape and abuse]( in a new lawsuit filed by R&B singer Cassie. Why the new season of “The Crown” fictionalizing Princess Diana’s last days [feels like grief porn](. For Gen-Z, remote work isn’t the ‘“new normal,” it’s the norm. [What does that mean for the future of jobs?]( Maple Leafs fans once booed him, but Red Wing defenceman Justin Holl shrugs it off: [“That’s just Toronto.”]( Raptors Insider: [Why Toronto will ride or die with Gradey Dick]( plus that “bulls—” Celtics challenge. POV Canadian Press/Nathan Denette [Heather Mallick wonders when the erosion of Ontario’s universities and colleges began.]( CLOSE-UP Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images ISRAEL: Around 2,000 people gather to mourn Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver in Tel Gezer on November 17. Remembered as a “symbol of true belief in the option of peace,” [Silver was one of 1,200 victims killed by Hamas on Oct. 7]( 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_203946). Andrew will 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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