Inside the fight to pass the buck on refugee costs

Plus, the mystery behind grocery chain house brands, fake celebrity scandal ads and Gordon Lightfoot’s band carries on [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Andrew Joe Potter] By Andrew Joe Potter Good morning. Break out the tissues: in [an emotional open letter]( to fans following his trade earlier this week, former Raptors star Pascal Siakam writes that no matter where his career takes him, he’s “Toronto forever.” Here’s the latest. MUST READS Nick Lachance/Toronto Star Politics [Who should foot the bill for settling refugees in Toronto? That’s the $200-million question]( The years-long feud between city and federal officials over responsibility for costs related to refugee claimants and asylum seekers boiled over into public view this week. Cash-strapped Toronto says the feds must up their financial contributions — infuriating local Liberal MPs facing tough re-election prospects. Meanwhile, front-line workers loath that downtrodden newcomers are being used as political pawns. Victoria Gibson, David Rider and Stephanie Levitz take us deep inside the [political spat that could shape Toronto politics for years to come](. Ramon Ferreira/Toronto Star illustration/Dreamstime Groceries [Across Canada’s grocery stores, the food industry’s secret recipe is its mysterious house brands]( You’ve probably seen store-owned product lines like Compliments, Selection and Kirkland shelved next to their brand-name equivalents at your local supermarket. But despite the increasing ubiquity of private-label brands, they remain one the least understood elements of the modern grocery experience, Jake Edmiston reports. [It’s time you learned the open secret among Canada’s food producers](. Peter Power/For the Toronto Star History [Thanks to a discovery under a Guelph parking lot, Canada’s archeologists have more than a few bones to pick]( The skeletal remains of 115 people discovered in unmarked graves beneath a Guelph parking lot whisper their stories to Megan Brickley. As a paleopathologist, she studies McMaster University’s collection to better understand the calamities of mid-1800s Ontario — the injuries and the diseases. Yes, as Megan Ogilvie confirms, the dead will be reburied in time. For now, however, [they are providing a rare glimpse at what life was like for our ancestors](. Toronto Star Israel-Hamas war [The Star closed commenting on Middle East coverage. We owe you an explanation why]( Soon after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, an especially ugly comment from a reader slipped by the Star’s moderation safeguards, highlighting the potential for a rapid escalation in ugliness. A deluge of other hateful material — both antisemitic and anti-Palestinian — was enough to convince newsroom leaders that an exception to our usual public commenting rules needed to be made, public editor Donovan Vincent explains. [Here’s why the Star stands by that decision](. X(Twitter)/Toronto Star INTERNET [No, Howie Mandel isn’t facing a “world-class” scandal. Insidious internet scammers would have you think otherwise]( If you’ve spent time on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) or YouTube lately, you’d be forgiven for thinking a host of affable Canadian celebrities, from celebrity chef Mary Berg to comedian Howie Mandel, were embroiled in scandal. Thanks to a litany of paid advertisements designed to imitate real news posts, the internet is more polluted than ever, Alex Boyd writes. [This is what happens when lies and deception fill the void left by the decline of real news](. ATTEND THIS Steve Russell/Toronto Star Gordon Lightfoot’s death last May could’ve been the end of the “Carefree Highway.” However, as the surviving members of the Lightfoot Band tell Kenyon Wallace, they still had plenty of music left in them. With the fans’ encouragement and a new frontman, the long-time collaborators will carry on Lightfoot’s legacy with [a pair of upcoming Toronto shows](. Thanks for reading. You can send your questions, comments and recommendations for old-time movies about a ghost from a wishing well to 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_207486). I will see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited digital access New Year Sale: Only $1.25/week — save $60 [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](