What's the hold up processing First Nations child services requests?

Plus, a year in TTC delay data and a musician killed at a Toronto shelter [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on the application of Jordan’s Principle, TTC delays in 2023 and a musician killed at a Toronto shelter. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick federal politics [Ottawa is supposed to process First Nations families' child services requests within days. Sometimes it makes them wait a year]( Under Jordan’s Principle, adopted by the Canadian government in 2007, all First Nations children should have access to necessary and timely funding for products and services, including health, social, educational, LGBTQ2S+ and disability needs. In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled Ottawa’s delivery of services to First Nations children was discriminatory, and updated its criteria, saying the government must process urgent applications within 12 hours, and non-urgent requests within 48 hours, Joy SpearChief-Morris explains. Why are some families waiting as long as a year? [Here’s why advocates say it’s a “wilful and chronic failure” by the federal government](. - Context: Jordan’s Principle is named after Jordan River Anderson, of Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, who died in hospital at five years old after the federal and provincial governments couldn’t agree on which one would pay for his at-home care. - The aftermath: Advocates say the delays have created a market for consultants, who charge fees to help families navigate the government bureaucracy. However, the services they’re seeking are meant to be free of charge. Lance McMillan/The Star transit [Delays, breakdowns and unruly passengers: How TTC routes performed in 2023]( The last 12 months haven’t been easy on TTC riders, McKenna Hart and Lex Harvey report. The start of the year saw fare hikes, service cuts and a spike in random and violent attacks. By the end of the year, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT still hadn’t opened. All the while, riders waited more than 1,306,541 minutes for transit delays between January and November — an average 253 delays per day or 65 hours. [These interactive graphics show which bus routes, streetcars and subway trains had the worst delays — and why](. - By the numbers: Subways experienced 25 per cent of all delays, despite making up 41 per cent of ridership. Buses, however, accounted for 60 per cent of total delays, while having 49 per cent of TTC ridership. Streetcars saw 15 per cent of all delays, while accounting for 9 per cent of ridership. - More: Only 2 per cent of streetcar delays occurred on night routes, although those routes were four times more likely to experience a delay of more than 30 minutes. Alexander Miller/Supplied Photo HOMELESSNESS [A “wildly talented” musician killed at a Toronto shelter was a creative “force”]( Liam Keddy’s former bandmate remembers his voice as rich and baritone, coloured by raw rock and classical influences. Beyond singing talent, Keddy was the “creative force” of the band. Keddy’s cousin, meanwhile, remembers him as a talented guitarist and a young child who often wrote plays for his siblings and cousins to perform for their parents, Emily Fagan reports. Keddy was killed on Dec. 30, at 41 years old, while at the Homes First shelter at 545 Lake Shore Blvd. W., where he was staying. [Here’s how his upbringing forged a passion for music and theatrics that drove his creative projects as an adult](. - More: Police have arrested 25-year-old Malik Kondell and charged him with second-degree murder. - Now what? Longtime street nurse Cathy Crowe said the loss should push government leaders to fund more private spaces for homeless people to sleep without fear of violence and theft, and put a moratorium on encampment evictions. “There’s a lot of tension in shelters,” she said. “Whenever there’s crowding, there’s more violence.” WHAT ELSE Palestinians are searching desperately for food and water while fearing Israeli airstrikes. [Take a look at one family’s journey](. At a racist killer’s sentencing, [relatives describe “desperately seeking solace” after an Ontario Muslim family’s murder](. [Doug Ford’s Tories are set to abandon a lucrative fundraiser]( in the wake of the Greenbelt scandal. Here’s how inflation-weary consumers are expected to [hamper grocery store revenues this year](. [Iran is mourning those slain in the Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts]( as the death toll rises to 89. I watched my car get stolen, Vinay Menon writes. [Grand theft auto has become a maddening game in Toronto](. Two N.B. men have been declared not guilty of murder [40 years after their wrongful conviction](. [The Jeffrey Epstein revelations are a reminder of the world’s willingness to look the other way]( Allan Woods writes. [Experts are predicting a “snapback” in the Toronto housing market]( following 2023’s severe slowdown. Are loud noises keeping you up at night? [Here’s how proposed bylaw changes could affect you](. After weeks of gloominess, sunshine arrived in Toronto. [Here’s when we may see it again](. There’s a new royal power couple: [the soon-to-be King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark](. ICYMI Nick Lachance/The Star [I got a prescription for Ozempic, even though I shouldn’t have qualified. How the rise of for-profit telehealth companies has led to bad medicine.]( CLOSE-UP Toronto Star OLD CITY HALL: The three bells in the Old City Hall clock tower have marked time almost without interruption since they first rang out at midnight on Dec. 31, 1900. The building is a repository of more than a century of civic history, Ben Spurr writes. [Without a plan to preserve the site, its stories risk being lost.]( 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_206626). Andrew will see you back here tomorrow. 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