Dissecting Toronto's 2024 budget

Plus, one family's approach to surrogacy and a lawsuit against Canadian hockey leagues [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. With significant snowfall in the forecast today, [Environment Canada is cautioning people to stay indoors](. Here’s the latest on Toronto’s approved 2024 budget, a tale of fertility struggles and a lawsuit over Canadian major junior leagues’ “atrocious” contracts. DON’T MISS Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star toronto [Olivia Chow’s 2024 budget has been finalized — here’s what’s it means for you]( After weeks of debate, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow’s 2024 budget — including the largest property tax increase in 25 years — was approved Wednesday evening. Chow’s 9.5 per cent property tax hike proposal survived an attempt to whittle it down; it will cost the average homeowner an extra $338 a year. The budget also includes an additional $12.6 million in funds for Toronto police’s $1.2 billion budget, which police officials spent weeks campaigning for. Action highlights include freezing TTC fares and investing in affordable housing, tenant protections, homeless shelters, infrastructure repair and the Scarborough busway. [Take a closer look at the details and how you’ll be impacted](. - Go deeper: With a tax hike on the horizon, data suggests a growing number of seniors are applying for exemptions through Toronto’s property tax increase cancellation program. In 2023, almost 8,300 homeowners successfully applied for the program — up 44 per cent from 2018. [Check if you’re eligible for an exemption](. - Matt Elliott’s take: Toronto has been described for years as a “broken” city. Chow’s budget is off to an OK start — [but it falls short of the billions needed for unfunded projects and repairs](. Susan Kao/Toronto Star Illustration health [She offered to carry a baby for her sister-in-law. Then came a twist no one expected]( Laura and Martin spent $100,000 trying, unsuccessfully, to have a baby. Early in their relationship, Laura met Martin’s sister Kelly, and they instantly formed a bond — “we just instantly felt like we’d known each other forever,” Kelly told the Star’s Amy Dempsey. As the years passed, the two grew even closer through a shared struggle — both wanted a child, but neither could get pregnant. So, when Laura finally did have her miracle baby, Kelly was in the delivery room with her. And, when Kelly began giving up on her dreams of motherhood, Laura decided to give her sister-in-law the ultimate gift: a baby. [This is their story](. - Caitlin Dunne’s take: Despite reports that roughly one in six people will be diagnosed with infertility at some point in their lives, women are still saddled with stigma and shame. [Infertility should be addressed as a public health issue with the potential to impact everyone](. - Another angle: While our society has improved in addressing women’s fertility issues more sensitively, fertility struggles take their toll on men too — [but they’re often left to go it alone](. Clifford Skarstedt/The Star star investigation [Canadian major junior leagues are being sued over “atrocious” contracts for teenage hockey players]( Young hockey players chasing the dream of making it big are often forced into exploitative contracts, a new lawsuit alleges, referring to Canadian major junior leagues as a “cartel.” The leagues allegedly conspired to limit athletes’ ability to negotiate their own contracts, capping their pay at just $250 a month despite working full time, Robert Cribb reports. The suit also named the NHL as a “co-conspirator in the unlawful conduct.” Filed by the North American division of the World Association of Ice Hockey Players Unions in New York Wednesday, the suit takes aim at the Canadian Hockey League and three of its local leagues. [Take a closer look at the details](. - Meanwhile: Junior hockey has dominated the headlines lately, after [five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior men’s team were charged with sexual assault](. - Wait, what? The sexual assault allegations pushed Hockey Canada under a harsh spotlight, resulting in a series of parliamentary hearings in 2022 — [which unearthed a number of new allegations that go back decades]( WHAT ELSE [The Trudeau government is looking into covering birth control and diabetes drugs]( amid pharmacare negotiations. [A lawsuit has been launched against the federal government]( over its “unconstitutional” use of the Emergencies Act. The Liberals are betting a new name for carbon pricing will [help them sell the rebate to inflation-weary Canadians](. [Toronto police are increasing their presence around Mount Sinai Hospital]( amid a debate over pro-Palestinian protesters. When it comes to the Israel-Hamas war, can there be respectful dialogue? [Here’s what U of T’s first “civil discourse” adviser has to say](. [Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza]( — where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering — saying hostages may have been there. AI use is growing in Ontario classrooms. [How should school boards deal with it?]( The Ford government has [cancelled the LCBO’s plan to scan customer IDs](. Gunfire at a Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration [killed one and wounded nearly two dozen, including children](. Putin says Russia prefers Biden to Trump because [he is “more experienced and predictable.”]( Could Joseph Woll return to the top of the [Maple Leafs’ crowded goaltending class soon]( Pascal Siakam savoured the start of his return to Toronto, [then added a little spice to the ending](. POV Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star [An “untenable” crisis — Ottawa has no good excuse for its failure to appoint judges.]( CLOSE-UP Nick Lachance/The Star ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM: Not a fan of the ROM’s current look? We’ve got good news — Canada’s largest museum announced it’s getting a $130 million redesign that would completely transform the ground floor of its crystal wing. [Here’s what you can expect](. 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_208922). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. 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