What we know about the Ottawa mass murder

Plus, Toronto's lapsed World Cup exit strategy and the foreign caregiver program [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on the Ottawa mass murder, Toronto’s World Cup deal and Canada’s foreign caregiver program. DON’T MISS Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle crime [Ottawa slayings left six dead and a father hospitalized “in shock” ]( A “horrific scene” in the quiet Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven has left a father and husband in hospital recovering from severe shock and slashes to his hands and face, according to a religious leader. He is the sole survivor in a Wednesday night attack that claimed the lives of a 35-year-old mother, her seven-year-old son and three daughters, aged four, two and two-and-a-half months, as well as a 40-year-old man who had recently arrived from Sri Lanka. Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old international student who recently moved into the house, has been charged in an attack police say is the largest mass murder in Ottawa’s recent history, Joy SpearChief-Morris, Mark Colley and Omar Mosleh report. [Here’s what we know about the family and the attack](. - More: Police say they were first called to the scene around 10:52 p.m. on Wednesday, when a man yelling outside the house was asking people to call 911. Officers arrived minutes later, and identified and arrested De-Zoysa without incident. - More: “We know there are a lot of questions about why this tragedy occurred. This is the focus of our homicide unit as they diligently investigate this tragic crime,” the Ottawa police chief said. David Rider/The Star star exclusive [Toronto signed a secret deal that would have let it back out of hosting the 2026 World Cup]( According to internal emails obtained by the Star, the city signed a secret agreement that gave it the right to withdraw from hosting the 2026 World Cup if it didn’t receive financial support from senior levels of government by mid-2020. But Toronto didn’t reach funding deals by that deadline, so it’s unclear why the city didn’t back out, Ben Spurr reports. Mayor Olivia Chow has since said she’s “saddled” with the arrangement after her election last year. [Here’s what else the emails reveal about Toronto’s deals with other levels of government](. - By the numbers: In February, the Ontario government announced it would contribute $97 million to the event, but rejected Toronto’s request to contribute more after the price of the event increased. - Watch for: Toronto says it expects the federal government to make a funding decision “in the coming days,” but it’s not clear how much Ottawa will commit. Supplied Photo immigration [How Canada’s attempts at reform made foreign caregivers even more vulnerable ]( Connie Alinton had to pay for the care of her mother’s heart-enlargement problem and support her siblings while working in a seafood factory in the Philippines. So when an opportunity arose to work in Canada, she jumped at it. More than a decade later, Nicholas Keung reports the Toronto home support worker and nanny is trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare to become a permanent resident — an unintended consequence of reforms meant to improve a caregiver program that was once rife with abuse and exploitation. As the Immigration Department reviews a soon-to-be expired caregiver immigration pilot, [here’s what foreign domestic workers and their supporters say needs to change](. - Context: In 2014, Stephen Harper’s government eliminated the requirement that workers live with their employers, and imposed new language and post-secondary education criteria, as well as an annual cap on the number of permanent residents applications under the program. - By the numbers: Since the Trudeau government launched its own five-year pilot program in 2019, officials have received 18,739 permanent residence applications from caregivers — and processed only 4,024. WHAT ELSE After backlash, the Ford government is backing down and [allowing female MPPs to speak about International Women’s Day](. “It’s like a Catch-22.” [Families where the mom is the main breadwinner face more financial strain when having children]( a report has found. They are builders, investors and difference-makers. [These 24 women are changing the game for women and girls in sport](. The man who died in the Nashville plane crash with his family was [generous and soft-spoken, his longtime rabbi said](. The Brampton mayor and federal government are [clashing over the costs of opening a refugee reception centre](. A bigger share of suburban GTA homes are tipping into the $1 million-plus range. [These interactive graphics show the changes](. Protesters clashed at a [Thornhill synagogue event promoting real estate sales on illegal West Bank settlements](. An Ontario nuclear plant is going to [provide a key ingredient for a treatment that fights liver cancer](. Turtles in High Park face danger from people and their pets. [This organization is safeguarding them](. Is bagged milk reaching its expiration date? [What you need to know about “apocalypse cow.”]( Lily Gladstone is having a historic awards season. [Artists weigh in on the long (and bumpy) road toward Indigenous representation](. Just for Laughs has cancelled its annual comedy festival in Toronto as it seeks creditor protection. [Here’s what it means to comics](. POV Fatima Shbair/AP Photo [Andrew Phillips: Canada needs to show leadership in ending the famine in Gaza.]( CLOSE-UP Michael Varaklas/AP Photo GREECE: Petros Hadjopoulos hugs his husband Anastasios Samouilidis before their wedding on Thursday. The novelist and lawyer became the [first male couple to be married at Athens City Hall following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Orthodox Christian Greece](. 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_210160). Andrew will see you back here tomorrow. Get unlimited access to the Star Sale: Starting at only $1 for a limited time [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](