Ontario health care is in "deep, deep trouble"

Plus, colleges fighting over international students and a rising wave of extortion [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. Here’s the latest on Ontario’s family doctor shortage, the fight over international students and an extortion wave terrorizing Peel’s South Asian community. DON’T MISS Toronto Star File Photo health care [“Beyond crisis levels.” Here’s why Ontario doctors are fleeing family medicine]( It was hard for Dr. Natalie Leahy to walk away after 16 years as a family doctor and even harder to say goodbye to the 1,200 patients with her Oshawa practice. But a combination of heavy workloads, financial pressures and the ever-increasing burden of administrative tasks had led to burnout, Leahy told the Star’s Megan Ogilvie. She’s just one in a wave of family doctor resignations, adding to an acute shortage that’s left 2.3 million Ontarians without a family physician — a figure forecasted to rise to 4.4 million by 2026. A recent survey of 1,300 doctors found 65 per cent planned to either leave the profession or reduce their hours within the next five years. [Here’s what you need to know](. - Silver lining? In an effort to address the shortage, the Ontario government recently announced $110 million in funding for primary care teams to help close the care gap. [Critics have called the effort “as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane” given the scope of the problem](. - What we know: The Star spent 12 hours shadowing staff in the ER at Toronto Western Hospital. We witnessed doctors combat crowding, chaos and threats all while doling out life-saving treatments. [Here’s what it’s like working overnight in the ER](. Mathew McCarthy/Waterloo Region Record education [“Gloves truly off now.” The fight among college presidents over international students is getting ugly]( As soon as Ottawa announced it was capping international student permits, experts began predicting brawls between Ontario’s colleges — and disputes have now boiled over into full public display. Conestoga College president John Tibbits responded to criticism from Sault College president David Orazietti, who singled out Conestoga for scrutiny in a recent podcast interview. Tibbits told Guelph Today: “Why are his goddamn students in Toronto? Why not up there? Talk about a whore, I mean, he’s taking a percentage of the profits of an operation. I can't stand the guy by the way.” [Take a closer look inside the rising tensions among Ontario’s colleges](. - Context: Tibbits’ comments came after his college released a report unapologetically boasting about its growth plan, in what it says are [efforts to combat labour pressures from Canada’s declining birth rate and aging workforce](. Conestoga currently welcomes the largest number of international students in the country. - Meanwhile: Ontario’s 23 publicly assisted universities have also chimed into the debate, saying more than one-third of the province’s international students should go to them and [claiming they are “not the cause” of Canada’s current troubles](. Supplied Photo crime [Pay $200,000 or “we will come and shoot you.” A GTA businessmen described “terrorizing” extortion attempts]( Security footage appears to show a masked gunman emptying a handgun magazine into a row of parked SUVs. Two more shooters follow, firing indiscriminately at vehicles in a Caledon car dealer’s lot. Elsewhere, a man pulls up to a Brampton restaurant and empties a gas can near the window before setting the area ablaze. These are just two examples of a wave of violent crime and threats “terrorizing” Peel region’s South Asian community. Impacted business owners tell the Star’s Jason Miller they’re being extorted for hundreds of thousands of dollars and are facing threats of property damage or death. [Why is this happening?]( - More: [Peel police’s new 23-member extortion task force has investigated 29 incidents]( — several including shootings — since late last year. Last week, the team announced five arrests and the seizure of firearms, ammunition, cash, computers and approximately 50 cell phones linked to alleged extortion attempts. - Word from local leaders: In a recent letter to Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, the mayors of Brampton and Surrey expressed their “deep concern” about the extortion wave and [asked the minister to “do everything he can to protect our communities.”]( WHAT ELSE Doug Ford’s government is aiming to [ban most highway tolls, freeze driver’s licence fees and eliminate plate registration](. [Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’d cut “wasteful” foreign aid and hike defence spending]( after Justin Trudeau made Canada “weak.” Here’s how the war in Gaza [brought this man’s Canadian dream crashing down around him](. At least five patients have died as [oxygen ran out in a Gaza hospital seized by Israeli forces](. [Leslieville locals have filed a class action lawsuit against the supervised injection site]( where a woman was shot and killed. The tip of the iceberg? [Experts are warning the plunge in Canadian Tire profits points to an economic storm ahead](. [Toronto cops have been charged with assault with a weapon]( and suspended with pay over a daylight shooting. Russia’s prison service says that [imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died this morning at 47](. [A verdict is expected today in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial]( capping a busy week of court action. Despite the noise over Joe Biden and Donald Trump, [age and dementia do not go hand in hand](. A couple built a multiplex six months ago. [So why did it take Toronto Hydro until this week to agree to hook it up?]( He was cut from his Hamilton high school team. [Now, he's an NBA megastar](. POV Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick [It’s hard not to think that the Liberals have given up.]( CLOSE-UP Midjourney MIDJOURNEY: Think you can tell AI images apart from real people? I created this image (and many more) in seconds using the program Midjourney. As the world faces an unprecedented risk of disinformation and abuse as the technology grows, [try our quiz to test your AI-detection skills](. 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_208988). Andrew will see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited access to the Star 50% off sale: Only $1.20/week for 52 weeks! [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. 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