A deal for self-determination in Nunavut

Plus, MPs return from Jordan and the West Bank and the closure of a Toronto daycare [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on a historic land transfer, MPs in the Middle East and Toronto’s child-care crisis. DON’T MISS Dustin Patar/The Canadian Press FEDERAL POLITICS [The Trudeau government and Nunavut have made a historic land management deal]( The federal government has just made the largest land transfer in Canadian history, granting Nunavut the power to make final decisions about its two million square kilometres of public lands and the royalties from the extraction of resources on the land, Joy SpearChief-Morris reports. Nunavut represents over 20 per cent of Canada’s land mass. Here’s why Justin Trudeau said Thursday marked [a “transformative chapter” in Nunavut’s history and “an evolution” towards self-determination for Indigenous peoples in the territory](. - Context: Canada has been working towards transferring responsibilities including health, education, social services, housing, airports and land and resource management to the territories since the 1960s. - Word from the premier: “Devolution is about Nunavummiut making decisions about our lands and our waters. It means that we, the people most invested in our homelands, will be one of the ones managing our natural resources,” said P.J. Akeeagok. Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press Federal Politics [Liberal and NDP MPs visited the West Bank — and returned with a message for Justin Trudeau]( One hundred days into the Israel-Hamas war, five MPs — two Liberals and three New Democrats — had just embarked on a weeklong visit to Jordan and the West Bank, Raisa Patel reports. They met with Palestinians in refugee camps and Israeli settlements, Canadian diplomatic representatives, United Nations agencies and progressive Israeli organizations. “The stories have been very difficult and it will have a long, lasting impact on my life,” Liberal MP Salma Zahid told the Star. [Here’s what she saw — and what the MPs think Canada needs to do next](. - More: “I am going to share all these stories which I have heard with the prime minister, with (Foreign Affairs Minister) Mélanie Joly, and emphasize again that it is really important that Canada be a strong voice in asking for a ceasefire,” Zahid said. - Meanwhile: The U.S. has bombed [Yemen for a fifth time, as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejects any postwar Palestinian state](. - On the home front: Elizabeth May and Niki Ashton are joining a nation-wide [hunger strike demanding Canada Institute an arms embargo on Israel](. R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star GTA [The closure of a beloved daycare exposes Toronto’s child-care crisis]( A Davenport convent has provided families with child care for more than a century, Alyshah Hasham reports. The sudden announcement that Carmelite Day Nursery will be closing its doors this summer has left over 100 Toronto families, and those expecting to have a spot at the daycare in the coming years, to confront the years-long wait lists in the city’s daycare “Hunger Games.” [Here’s why the closure could leave the neighbourhood “torn apart” and why parents say they need governments to step in](. - More: The centre has reduced fees thanks to its participation in the federal $10-a-day program and accepts subsidies for low-income families, one parent said. - Go deeper: Carmelite parent Liz McLaughlin, who is a nurse along with her spouse, said she and other parents are facing impossible decisions, such as considering leaving the workforce or the city. WHAT ELSE Here’s where some Trudeau Liberals say they’ve gone wrong — [and how the party can turn it around](. Olivia Chow outsmarted Toronto’s MPs — [now they won’t stop whining]( Emma Teitel writes. The Ford government is being slammed for Ontario’s use of temporary nurses. [Here’s why critics are concerned](. Canada Child Benefit payments for 2024 start tomorrow. [Here’s what Ontarians can expect](. A woman who attacked a Scarborough Canadian Tire [has vowed to continue to support ISIS in prison]( an RCMP officer testified. In Leslieville, [a controversial drug clinic opens its doors to neighbours divided about its future](. Will the surge in layoffs continue? [These are the factors experts are considering](. This weekend, there will be [no service at these six Line 1 TTC subway stations](. [Canadian world champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber has died at 29]( from medical complications. “Tremendously proud” [Hamza Haq talks the end of ‘Transplant’ and the death of a key character](. The U.S. might just set its sights on Canadian-owned Westinghouse Electric. [Here’s why](. ‘[Today's Special’ actor, activist Nerene Virgin, has died at 78](. POV Migrant Students United photos [International students are just the latest villain in Canada’s failed housing strategy](. CLOSE-UP Michal Cizek/AFP CZECH REPUBLIC: Duni, a western lowland gorilla, holds her 16-day-old newborn as they rest at the Zoo in Prague, on Thursday. Thank you for reading. If you read Tuesday’s newsletter, you may have been directed to a story from 2023. Sorry about that. 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_207387). Andrew will see you back here tomorrow. 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