Breaking down the Toronto police's 2024 budget

Plus, safety concerns of condo board members and why everyone is sick [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on the Toronto police’s 2024 budget proposal, safety concerns for condo board members and why it feels like everyone is sick. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov POLICING [The Toronto police board has approved a $1.2-billion budget]( Toronto police are asking city council to increase their operating budget next year by $20 million to $1.186 billion, a figure that does not account for expected pay increases, Mahdis Habibinia and Andy Takagi report. With the proposed 2024 budget, police said they aim to hire 307 new uniformed officers and 102 staff, improve 911 response times, tackle hate crimes and more. According to the chief of police, the 1.7 per cent increase is “fiscally responsible” and below the rate of inflation. [Here’s what else we know about the police’s plans for the new year — and where critics say they could improve](. - Hate crime data: From Oct. 7 to Dec. 17, there have been 56 antisemitic hate crimes and 20 anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate crimes, police said. There have also been 11 reported hate crimes targeting LGBTQ2S+ community members. - By the numbers: According to the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, potential pay increases from union negotiations could bring the proposed budget increase to roughly 4.2 per cent, about a $45 million increase. But there are “easy” efficiencies that could cut the budget, too, said the TPAC coordinator and former mayor, John Sewell. Paige Taylor White/The Star gta [Ontario condo leaders are calling for safety changes to protect board members]( Nearly a year after the shooting at Vaughan’s Bellaria Residences that left five people dead, Ontario’s three main condo associations are raising concerns about the safety of condo board members and managers. In an open letter to the premier, the attorney general and the minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, they are calling for the province, as a first step, to hide the home addresses of condo owners, May Warren reports. [Here’s why they say “there’s a lot of fear.”]( - Context: A week before Christmas last year, a 73-year-old man with a long history of legal fights with the condo board where he lived, shot and killed then current board members Naveed Dada, 59, and Rita Camilleri, 57; Camilleri’s partner, Vittorio Panza, 79; and past condo board member Russell Manock, 75, and his wife, Helen, 71. He also wounded board member John Di Nino’s wife, Doreen Di Nino. - Go deeper: Sally Thompson, the vice-president of the Community Associations Institute's Canadian chapter, said it’s not uncommon to see people “yelling hysterically” at condo board meetings, “because they can't afford their own unit anymore.” R.J. Johnston/The Star health [If you think everyone seems sick these days, you’re not wrong]( Twice in a month, Sahar Shoja’s family has called in sick to work, cancelled holiday plans and cared for a sick child while ill themselves. Now, the familiar symptoms have made a way back into their home, Emily Fagan and Kenyon Wallace report. It’s not just them — a viral soup of COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus has been contributing to rising ER visits across the province since the beginning of September. [Here’s how else a particularly rough cold and flu season is manifesting in Ontario](. - Meanwhile: Soon, families will be gathering indoors for the holidays — worrying experts that these indicators, combined with a low uptake for COVID and RSV vaccines, will only continue to rise. - The good news: Deaths are down substantially from previous years and doctors say last year’s crisis helped create a framework for how to handle increased emergency department volumes seasonally. - Now what? [Here’s how to minimize the risk of COVID, flu and other illnesses ruining your holidays](. WHAT ELSE A Palestinian baby girl, born 17 days ago during the war in Gaza, [has been killed with her brother in an Israeli strike](. Here’s where Mayor Olivia Chow says [Toronto made progress this year and what her hopes are for 2024](. Toronto has had an unusually warm December — [and broke a 180-year weather record](. Still prepping for the holidays? [Here’s what will be open and closed in Toronto](. Cindy Ali’s defence argued at the close of her retrial that the [Toronto mom had no motive to kill her disabled daughter](. [“Toronto’s Joker” has been arrested]( by Hamilton police after a two-month pursuit. Interest rates for fixed five-year mortgages are [finally dropping to levels not seen since the spring](. Celine Dion's sister says she has now lost control of her muscles, [including ones that allow her to sing](. The best music of 2023? [A mix of politically searing artistry and pure pop joy](. [These are the best movies of 2023]( according to movie critic Peter Howell. POV Sean Gallup/Getty Images [Will this "historic" climate change pact make a difference?]( CLOSE-UP R.J. Johnston/The Star REXDALE: Pascal Siakam meets with students at Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School as a surprise on Tuesday. [Here’s what the Toronto Raptor 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_205773). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. LAST CHANCE Only $39.99 for 1 Year [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]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](