Behind the scenes of Toronto and Ottawa's public war

Plus, Toronto building on Indigenous lands and our addiction to smartphones [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on ancient Indigenous remains in southern Ontario, Toronto’s fight for federal refugee funding and your iPhone addiction. DON’T MISS Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star gta [This man fell into a hole and raised questions about how Toronto builds on Indigenous lands]( John Brown was walking home on Withrow Avenue when he stepped on the edge of his neighbour’s garden and felt the earth crumble beneath him, Emily Fagan and Jermaine Wilson report. In a pit six feet below ground, he found a bone that turned out to be among centuries-old Indigenous remains. Similar discoveries have grown more frequent across southern Ontario with increasing housing developments and infrastructure projects. So, what will be done with the remains? “The Indigenous voice is really written out” of the process, says the archeological supervisor for Six Nations of the Grand River. [Here’s what Toronto is — and isn’t — doing about its history of building over sacred Indigenous places](. - Go deeper: Withrow Avenue runs on land that was once an Indigenous burial site and village. As the City of Toronto was built, First Nations were not consulted about development on culturally significant areas. - By the numbers: Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, said his provincial office receives 30 to 50 reports every year of discoveries of buried human remains. Each report is unique and the outcomes can vary, he said. Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star city hall [Inside Toronto city hall’s fight for federal refugee funding]( Earlier this month, Toronto city hall and the Trudeau government finally clinched a deal to give the city $162 million in federal support for asylum seekers, David Rider reports. But it took a public war to get there — including Toronto’s budget chief announcing a “federal impacts levy” in January and a Liberal MP later taking to radio to accuse Mayor Olivia Chow of “lying” about federal support. So what finally turned the tide? [Here’s what city and federal insiders told the Star](. - Context: At the Jan. 10 budget launch, Olivia Chow’s budget chief Coun. Shelley Carroll announced the city would have to impose a six-per-cent property tax surcharge branded the “federal impacts levy” — unless Ottawa paid outstanding 2023 refugee costs and pledged 2024 support. - Ottawa’s reaction: The proposed levy angered the Liberals, whose government was already low in opinion polls and who had flowed billions more to Toronto than their Conservative predecessors. Susan Kao/Toronto Star photo illustration technology [Smartphones are the new cigarettes. But will we ever be able to put them down?]( Before it was known that cigarettes definitively and unequivocally caused cancer, smoking seemed like a permanent fixture of Canadian life, Richard Warnica writes. Prior to 1966, roughly half of Canada’s population 15 and older smoked regularly. Fast forward to 2022, and barely one in 10 Canadians 15 and older smoked regularly. Could smartphones be the next big industry to face a reckoning? [Here’s a look back at the rise and fall of the cigarette industry — and why we may end up viewing our phone addictions with similar disbelief](. - By the numbers: In 2022, more than 95 per cent of Canadians between ages 15 and 54 used a smartphone to access the internet. Even seniors are doing it, with 37 per cent of Canadians 75 and older using smartphones that year. - Go deeper: Most debate and litigation around harmful smartphone use so far has focused on social media apps. But if apps are nicotine, smartphones are cigarettes — perfectly formulated to keep consumers hooked on dopamine-driven feedback loops, Warnica writes. WHAT ELSE It’s now looking like we won’t see an interest-rate cut until June. [Why does the Bank of Canada keep us guessing?]( [Here’s what happened to overdose deaths]( in Toronto neighbourhoods with safe consumption sites. Israel is ordering new evacuations in northern Gaza, [where the UN says one in six children are malnourished](. [Alexei Navalny’s widow is the latest woman to take up the fight of her silenced spouse]( Allan Woods writes. Canada is sending more than 800 drones to Ukraine. [Here’s the latest in the war](. [One in four ALS patients opt for MAID]( because the care isn’t there. In Thorncliffe Park, an elevator ride is a journey of its own — [and rush hour means gridlock](. The tapeworm economy has arrived in Ontario — [and it’s threatening to eat us alive]( Here are five things never to say to someone who lost their job — [and what will help them instead](. As Scotiabank Arena celebrates 25 years, [here are 25 highlights from the Raptors and Leafs home](. The TTC signals [there’s little room on transit for student field trips — or new ideas](. Watching Auston Matthews score is [like watching hockey history unfold in real time](. POV Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images [Israel’s operation is a war on children, a Canadian surgeon who helped in Gaza hospitals writes.]( CLOSE-UP National Archives of Canada/William James Topley/The Canadian Press MANITOBA: A portrait of Louis Riel and his councillors that hangs in the Manitoba legislature now recognizes the Métis leader as the province’s first premier. [Here’s why the government says it’s taking this historic step](. 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_209162). I’ll 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. [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](