From The Uber Files to supermarkets making money from inflation, we’ve selected some of the best long reads of the week on thestar.com.
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1. Supermarkets are hiking prices faster than necessary — and profiting from inflation, Star investigation suggests
For retired child-care worker Kim Agnew, inflation means putting TV dinners in her cart instead of meat.
“It’s terrible. It was $13.50 for a pack of chicken thighs, but the frozen dinners were only five bucks. So I had to do what I had to do,” said the 67-year-old after her regular shop at the Superstore on Brimley Rd. in Scarborough.
“Forget the boneless, skinless that I used to eat,” she said as she schlepped her bags across the bridge over Highway 401 on her way home.
Food prices are rising faster than many other goods. Statistics Canada reports that while year-over-year inflation is 7.7 per cent for all products, groceries have gone up 9.7 per cent.
These prices are being driven by increased costs across the board: farmers are paying more for fertilizers and feed, and processors are paying more to truck food to market.
But there’s another factor driving prices up — profit.
A Star investigation has found that Canada’s three largest supermarket chains are making money from inflation.
2. The Uber Files: A kill switch, intense lobbying and driver exploitation. Leaked documents reveal ‘cutthroat’ tactics that built ride-hailing empire
In December 2014, a general manager for Uber took to the country’s “podium of record,” the Canadian Club of Toronto, to sell attendees on an innovation changing the face of urban transportation.
The company was on a mission to bring “efficient, elegant, and most importantly, safe” transit to cities the world over. With its ever-expanding reach came a promise: to create “one million jobs for Uber drivers” around the globe.
“That number absolutely blows me away,” Ian Black told the crowd.
As one of Uber’s first international markets, Canada was an early pit stop on an audacious drive for global prominence — one that would reshape cities, bedevil regulators and normalize the gig economy.
The lofty ambitions described in Toronto that winter’s day were part of an internal playbook that was designed to win over influencers around the world and is now revealed in a trove of never-before-seen documents obtained by the Guardian newspaper and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Toronto Star.
The leak of more than 124,000 emails, texts, memos and PowerPoint slides from 2013 to 2017 details the company’s behind-the-scenes efforts to barge into cities in defiance of local regulations, stymie government investigations into its operations, and rewrite labour standards.
3. Wedding dress never worn. Dining table that sat empty. Listings of items for sale on Kijiji reveal moments lost to the pandemic
The pandemic is far from over, but even as the latest COVID wave swells, there’s a palpable feeling of being on the other side: street festivals have returned, people are travelling, masks are more likely to be seen on the ground than on a face.
Cautiously we’ve been here before. False starts. But this summer, as even the tentative among us return to a sense of “normal,” there’s a purging of things we’ve held onto for the past two-plus years: goalie pads that never stopped a puck; a Frozen costume that never saw a Halloween; high heels that were never paraded at a party.
These are just some of the items recently listed for sale on Kijiji that remind us of time robbed, moments lost.
“Selling a Baby Bjorn play yard/travel crib in brand new condition. I bought this right before the pandemic in anticipation of future travel that never ended up happening and it ended up being completely unused.”
Zainab Kizilbash was planning a “babymoon” in the winter of 2020, a holiday with her husband and two young boys before little Aliana was to be born that June.
4. Has Alberta found its new political darling?
Picture Pierre Poilievre in a cowboy hat.
You don’t have to imagine it. It’s the kind of time-tested image that politicians covet every year as the Calgary Stampede begins, serving up opportunities to glad-hand, flip pancakes for the cameras and show Albertans you can hang.
Stampede draws thousands of partygoers, horseback riders and dozens of vote-thirsty politicians every year to an event where jeans, boots and hat are typically a must. Poilievre tweeted a picture of himself Friday in attendance, saying “Stampede begins.”
Poilievre is the MP for Carleton, just outside Ottawa, but he was born in Calgary. He grew up in the province and went to the University of Calgary, where he studied international relations and commerce. He cleaned tables at the Stampede in his teens.
“He’s more authentically Albertan than (Stephen) Harper or (Jason) Kenney,” said Lisa Young, a University of Calgary political scientist.
That’s important for the Conservative party leadership hopeful who many observers believe is by far the front-runner in the race set to wrap on Sept. 10.
5. Doug Ford reveals how COVID helped his re-election and why he is staying out of the federal leadership race
Premier Doug Ford doesn’t want to weigh in on the current federal Conservative leadership race — but Canada’s most powerful Tory does have a blueprint for winning elections.
After the June 2 campaign that saw his Ontario PC Party boost its seats in the legislature — 83 compared to 76 in the 2018 election — Ford said it was in part his government’s cautious approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that reassured weary voters.
And in his first in-depth interview since the election, Ford — who sat down with the Star in British Columbia, where he was attending the Council of the Federation summer meeting with his 12 provincial and territorial counterparts — also attributed his victory to a combination of hard work and “a very disciplined and structured campaign with great candidates across the province.”
He said “the message to the people — we had a message of ‘Yes, we’re moving forward.’ We’re going to be building hospitals and schools and bridges and roads and highways that the opposition will say, ‘No, we’re never going to be doing that.’ So people had a clear choice and they made that decision.”
6. How to (hopefully) not get COVID on your summer vacation
After two and a half years of hunkering down, many Canadians are finally ready to make that long-awaited cross-country visit to family, go on that postponed European tour, or just take the beach vacation they’ve been dreaming of since 2020.
Many travel restrictions have been dropped, clearing the way for international destinations (although navigating airports and delayed flights is another story).
But, with a new wave driven by the ultra-contagious BA.5 variant in Ontario and cases surging in several countries, it’s clear the pandemic is not over.
No one wants to get sick (and potentially have to delay, cancel or extend your trip out of pocket) while travelling.
While travel is never risk-free, there are some practical ways to have a safer holiday this summer.
7. If you got COVID early this year, you can get reinfected now, U of T study finds
If you were vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 before 2022, you may not be as safe from reinfection as you think, according to a new antibody test that offers a clear window into the body’s immunity.
Researchers from the University of Toronto discovered that COVID-19 antibodies generated prior to 2022 are no longer effective against Omicron and later variants.
“We found out that people who were vaccinated at the end of last year or who got the booster shot by the end of last year, they have basically almost zero neutralizing antibodies against (Omicron),” said Dr. Igor Stagljar, who co-led the study and is a professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at U of T’s Donnelly Centre and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
“This means actually that anybody who got COVID by the beginning of this year, or who got the booster by the beginning of this year, can get reinfected now,” he said.
His team’s study, recently published in Nature Communications, detailed their creation of a new rapid test able to measure how effective neutralizing antibodies are at curbing the virus behind COVID-19 and its variants.
8. Should you get a fourth COVID vaccine dose now or in the fall? Five experts weigh in
Fourth time’s a charm?
With the news that fourth doses, sometimes called second boosters, of COVID-19 vaccine are open to all adults in Ontario, many are wondering whether it makes sense to roll up their sleeves now, or wait until fall when it’s hoped there will be new vaccines targeting Omicron.
As another wave of COVID, this time driven by the BA.5 variant, hits the province, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, has recommended the fourth shot to people 18 to 59 with underlying medical conditions, at least five months after their last dose, and three months after an infection.
For other younger and healthy people, his language was careful; he said they may get the vaccine but it’s not a “should,” and it’s “fine” to wait until the fall, when a bivalent vaccine against Omicron will likely be available.
But the evidence on fourth doses is still emerging, as scientists race to keep up with the virus, so the picture is somewhat nuanced, and not all experts agree.
“I’m very much in favour of everyone running out to get their fourth dose as soon as they’re eligible,” said Dawn Bowdish, the Canada Research Chair in aging and immunity and a professor of medicine at McMaster University.
9. A new LRT line is bringing redevelopment — and gentrification fears — to Jane and Finch
A customer and his son walk into shop owner Huzainatu Bangura’s store inside the Jane Finch Mall, in search of an outfit for the young man.
Fab Boutique sells men’s and women’s ready-to-wear fashions imported from the African countries of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
It’s late June and the store is filled with richly coloured women’s dresses, tops and men’s shirts and pants. The young shopper tries on a short sleeved top.
“That shirt looks good on you. Do you like it? There are pants that go with it,” Bangura, 49, who was born in Sierra Leone, tells him as his father looks on in delight.
Fab Boutique is busy. Many area residents who hail from African countries shop there, though residents from other backgrounds do as well, she tells the Star.
“My business is valuable to this community. It’s not big … but as small as it is, it needs to be here.”
The mall is one of many sites in the area up for redevelopment spurred by a new soon-to-be-completed LRT line along Finch that is expected to push up land values, sparking fears among community members of displacement and gentrification.
10. Almost 220,000 Toronto students use food programs every day. What happens when school is out for summer?
Simone Gordon has eight children and heavily relies on the food support programs offered at her kids’ schools to provide nutritious meals during the day. But from June to September when school is out, it’s a struggle.
“There is a lot of strain because they eat more and are around more,” Gordon said. She occasionally receives financial help from the children’s father when he’s able, but otherwise she’s on her own.
During the academic year, each of her kids gets a $50 voucher from their respective schools in Toronto to buy food for the week.
“It helps a lot because sometimes I run out of money to go shopping.”
In Toronto, 616 school communities receive municipal funding to support student nutrition programs reaching almost 220,000 students each day. The goal is to ensure that students who are at risk of poor nutritional intake have access to safe, adequate and healthy meals. The program not only supports a child’s physical health, but also their mental and social well-being, a Toronto Public Health spokesperson says.
11. There has been a big spike in homeless deaths in Toronto and other cities. The reasons go beyond a toxic drug supply
David Meyer is trailing an elderly fellow with an unsteady gait; the older man hunches over a shopping cart, his quivering fingers squeezing the handlebars as if he’s holding on for dear life.
“If he drops, I’ll call the ambulance,” Meyer says, half a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, his trusty naloxone kit hanging from his hip.
As if spurred by his words, the sharp squeal of sirens cleaves through the air.
“This damn thing drives by 20 times a day,” Meyer says of a passing firetruck, shaking his head as he leans on a cane. “Every 20 minutes or half an hour, you hear the sirens, and they’re not going to fires — they’re going to another call for another sick person on ‘down’ who’s going to die if they don’t get help.”
The “down” Meyer refers to is illicitly produced fentanyl, believed to be in everything sold on the street as opioids these days.
Those in the know say the tainted drug supply is one of the major causes of a spike in deaths of people experiencing homelessness across multiple cities in this country.
But it’s not the only reason.
12. The rise of pickleball is a bit noisy and a bit disruptive — but that’s not slowing it down
The first time Tom Keane picked up a pickleball racket he was hooked. His neighbour had worn him down and finally convinced him to play at a court, in East York; two years later, Keane says the sport has changed his life.
“My neighbour put a paddle in my hand, and from there on I just fell in love with the game,” says Keane, who is now the president and a founder of the East Toronto Pickleball Association, established in 2021.
“I’m 57 years old. I’m aging, I’m a big guy. But it’s so accessible and I realized this was something I could do, something I could participate in.”
A combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis, pickleball is played with a paddle that has a honeycomb core and a plastic ball with holes in it. Accessible to all ages, the sport’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years and has been touted as North America’s fastest-growing sport.
“There’s no question it has grown significantly, and I believe it’s because the larger community can participate,” says Robert Singleton, managing director of the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. “Young, old — it’s a version of tennis everyone can play.”
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