A Toronto lawyer says charges have been withdrawn against three more people accused of defacing a downtown Indigo bookstore in a 2023 protest.

Toronto city councillors have voted to give themselves a staff-recommended pay raise of nearly 25 per cent.

The Essex County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are asking for the public’s assistance in an investigation into a theft and fraudulent transactions.

Sometime between March 7, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. and March 8, 2025, at approximately 5:11 a.m., a motor vehicle on Heritage Road in the Town of Kingsville was entered by unknown persons and numerous items were stolen.

Bank cards were included in the stolen property. They were used at a business and online to make several purchases.

Photos of the suspects and their vehicle were obtained from security camera footage, and the OPP are working to identify the individuals involved.

The OPP is asking anyone with relevant information to contact the Essex County OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or leave an anonymous online tip at www.catchcrooks.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.

The Essex County OPP reminds residents to secure valuables in vehicles, park in well-lit areas, and report any suspicious activity immediately.

The post OPP Investigating Stolen Bank Cards In Kingsville appeared first on Kingsville Times.

Eleven people from Quebec have been arrested and charged by Durham Regional Police in connection with an auto theft investigation that began at the start of this year.

Two government officials familiar with ongoing trade talks between Canada and the U.S. say President Donald Trump's impending tariffs on the auto industry may not be as severe as first expected.

There were scattered but audible boos from the sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Thursday as the "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung by the 40-person ensemble from the local stage production of the Lion King.

A Toronto man has been arrested after allegedly stealing more than 80 fire extinguishers from residential buildings across the city. 

Toronto council is sounding the alarm this week after a new report highlights major federal funding cuts that will hurt the city's ability to help newcomers who can find themselves relying on local shelters and other services.

Hamilton Police are currently investigating a report of an attempted child abduction in the Dundas area.

At approximately 8:20 a.m. today, an 8-year-old child was out walking their dog in the area of Linington Trail and Newcombe Road in Dundas when they were approached by a male driving a white van.

The driver exited the van and engaged with the child. He made suggestions that there was candy inside the van and that the child should get in. The male also stated, “I’ll give you whatever you want”. He then reached out to grab the child, but the child proceeded to kick the male and run away to safety. Parents of the child immediately called Police, however the male was gone when police got there.

The suspect is described as the following:

• Male, brown skin
• 30-40 years old
• Thin build
• Clean shaven
• White toque hat
• Purple t-shirt (writing on it with “N” as the first letter)
• Black pants
• Black running shoes

The vehicle is described as a white van with a back that is larger than the cab.

Police are canvassing the area for CCTV and witnesses. If you see something or know anything that you feel will assist investigators with this incident, please contact the on-duty Division 3 Staff Sergeant at 905-546-3886. Additionally, if you wish to remain anonymous, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit crimestoppershamilton.com

The opening of a provincial treatment centre and homeless shelter in London has been delayed as operators say they're still ironing out the final details with the Ontario government.

The string of violent incidents in and between around Hamilton High Schools shows no signs of slackening despite police interventions and expulsions.

In the latest indecent, Hamilton Police have charged a young person after a misleading and potentially dangerous situation unfolded at Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary High School.

Last Friday police were called to the school for a report of a person with a firearm. Information at the time stated that a student had pointed a gun towards another student and that the suspect may still be inside the school. As a result, the high school was placed into a hold and secure while Police cleared each room. Once it was completed and officers had confirmed that there was no further threat to safety, the hold and secure was lifted, but the search for the suspect was still ongoing.

A short time later, the suspect was placed under arrest and the investigation began to reveal that no firearm was ever observed. As such, the suspect was released.

Investigators soon discovered that the person who made the gun call to police had actually attacked a student with a can of bear spray and then concocted a story about the gun to displace any wrongdoing towards himself.

Yesterday, Police placed the youth under arrest for assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose, possession of a prohibited weapon, administering noxious thing with intent to cause bodily harm and public mischief.

The incident is just the latest in a series of violent events involving Hamilton High School, one of which has resulted in a fatality of a 15-year-old

Starting on Monday November 25, Police were called to the area of Upper Sherman and Rymal Road for a disturbance involving multiple students from Nora Henderson high school. Physical violence had erupted, and bear spray was discharged by some of the parties in attendance causing numerous injuries. Traffic was also disrupted as a result of melee. One adult was charged with Assault level one, one youth was diverted for Assault with a weapon, and four other youths were diverted for Assault level one.

Then on the following Monday, a student at St Jean de Brebeuf Catholic Secondary was charged after they were found to be expelling a can of bear spray into a school drain causing mischief to the property. The student was charged with Possession of a prohibited weapon, Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and Mischief to property.

Then on  Tuesday December 3, 2024 Police were called to Ancaster Community Center for another large gathering of students from Ancaster High School, Bishop Tonnos High School, and St Thomas More High School. A fight broke out and some of the involved parties utilized bear spray against the opposing sides. Police charged one youth with Possession of a prohibited weapon and Assault with a weapon, while three youths were diverted for possessing a prohibited weapon.

The inter school violence was first reported in October, when at least 100 students were involved in a parking-lot fight in the days before 15-year-old Jayden Russell was killed in a high-speed crash on October 11. In that incident, Police say some sort of disturbance broke out resulting in a car chase on the Lincoln Alexander Parkway. Two of the vehicles collided and lost control.  One vehicle was able to regain control but a Toyota SUV left the road and rolled several times. During the roll, one or more occupants were ejected from the Toyota. And the 15 year old, was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital.

In conjunction with the latest incidents, criminal charges and diversions, the accused parties in each of these incidents have also been suspended by their respective school.

Anyone with any information that could assist Police with this occurrence, are asked to contact the on-duty Division 3 Staff Sergeant at 905-546-3886. To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit  anonymous tips online at http://www.crimestoppershamilton.com

It was a packed house as over 500 persons attended the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s 41st Annual Outstanding Business Achievement Awards, presented by RBC Royal Bank at Carmens Banquet Centre.

In addition to nine award-winning local businesses, youth mentor and advocate Frederick Dryden, Founder & Executive Director of Liberty for Youth, was named Hamilton’s ‘Citizen of the Year’. Cole Horncastle, Executive Managing Director of John C. Munro International Airport was named ‘CEO of the Year’. The evenings honorees were:

Century Award Recipients: Celebrating 100+ Years in Business

• Black & McDonald

• Coca-Cola Canada Bottling

Large Business Award Finalists: 50+ Employees

• Scarfone Hawkins LLP (Winner)

• AIM Recycling Hamilton

• The Other Bird

Mid-Sized Business Award Finalists: 10-50 Employees

• Dynamic Heating & Cooling (Winner)

• Revelry Beauty Bar

• Undefined

Small Business Award Finalists: 1-10 Employees

• Empire Mortgage Group (Winner)

• Ctrl + F

• Pisa Pizza

Not-For-Profit Organization Award Finalists

• 541 Eatery & Exchange (Winner)

• Mathstronauts

• Tune In Foundation

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Award Recipient

• Hamilton Folk Arts Heritage Council: It’s Your Festival

YEP Award Finalists: Entrepreneur Under 40

• Ancaster Chiropractic and Laser (Winner)

• COOCO Corporation

• Rental Rescue

Tourism Champion of the Year Recognition Award

• Golf Canada – 2024 RBC Canadian Open

2025 Judging Committee

This year’s nominees were evaluated by a local and diverse set of business experts, ranging from private and public sector, including representation from large and small business.

• Maria Artuso – VP, Commercial Financial Services at RBC Royal Bank

• Peter Ipema – Sales Representative at GFL Environmental Inc.

• Tej Sandhu – Founder MERIT Brewing & Chamber Board Member

• Norm Schleehahn – Director of Economic Development for the City of Hamilton

• Lohifa Pogoson Acker – Founder, Excel In Style & Owner + Hair Artist, LoDidThat & Chamber Board Member

Toronto police are appealing for information after a 23-year-old man was shot and killed in Etobicoke Wednesday night. “This is a tragedy,” Det.-Sgt. Jason Davis told reporters Thursday afternoon.

A townhouse in Lowertown was evacuated early Wednesday evening after a vehicle struck one of the building's structural supports. Ottawa Fire Services said there was structural damage to multiple units and confirmed that the structural integrity of the townhouse was compromised.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow called the city's response to the biggest storm of this winter "a failure." On Thursday afternoon, we'll find out what city council will do about it.

Hamilton Public Works staff say they have completed 9 of 36 items recommended by the Red Hill Inquiry and expect to have all items addressed by next year. Many of the actions staff are working on relate to co-operation and information sharing between the various Public Works department. The scathing Red Hill Inquiry report documented a serious management failure that included a culture of withholding information between departments responsible for the highway, manipulation of consultant’s reports, and misleading council and the media.

The staff report says some of the completed items include:

• Design analysis of the winding stretch of Red Hill between Greenhill Avenue and Queenston road where the bulk of the fatalities occurred
• Creating and updating Standard Operating Procedures related to Traffic Safety including Friction, Fatal Injury Investigations and Red Hill Valley Parkway/Lincoln M Alexander Parkway Operation and Maintenance Plan.
• Roadway safety training module for staff involved in planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance.
• Appointment of a Chief Roads official. This would address the finding that the Road construction division and the road operation division were frequently at odds with each other to the extent that each department hired consultants to do the same work unbeknownst to each other.

Many of the other items where progress has been reported involve improving the culture of the sprawling Public Works Department. This has involved code of conduct training, competency training, and surveys to allow rank and file employees to rate their managers  on collaboration, transparency and accountability.

In the area of staff communication with the media and the public there will be an emphasis on truthful and accurate communication with the media. Staff will be given media training in crisis situations. This item refers to some misleading statements made to the media during the period when accidents and safety were the focus of community attention.

Staff have also set up a system where all consulting reports will be fully shared across departments. A report on friction on the pavement that was not shared was the event that triggered the inquiry in the first place. As the inquiry unfolded, the findings of the friction report became somewhat inconclusive; but it led to the uncovering of a whole can of worms regarding the way the department was operating.

In the end, repaving the highway and lowering the speed limit appear to have resulted in significant improvement in traffic safety on the Red Hill.

Starting April 5, new routes will be added to increase connectivity across the region, Metrolinx says, and GO Explore bus service will return to service popular attractions.

Conservative and NDP leaders Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh were both in Hamilton on the third day of the federal election campaign.

Toronto council has voted to ratify a new four-year contract with the union representing 27,000 of the city's workers. The city says the deal with CUPE 79 includes annual wage increases between three and almost four per cent through 2028.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has paused his campaign and is back in Ottawa today to deal with the fallout from U.S. Donald Trump's proposed auto tariffs, which would wallop the industry in Canada.

A man has died in hospital following a two-vehicle collision in Waterdown late Thursday evening. On Tuesday, shortly after 11:00 p.m., Hamilton Police received 911 calls reporting a collision on Dundas Street in Waterdown near Avonsyde Boulevard involving a black Dodge Ram and a white Toyota Corolla.

Police say the driver of the Dodge Ram, a 42-year-old male from Tottenham, was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Two individuals from the Toyota Corolla were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

After an investigation, Police have determined that the Dodge Ram was travelling eastbound on Dundas Street and crossed into the westbound lanes, striking the Toyota Corolla. The Dodge Ram then collided with a light standard on the north shoulder of Dundas Street before coming to a rest.

The Hamilton Police Collision Reconstruction Unit has concluded that no charges will be laid as this incident was caused by a medical situation.

To provide information anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit anonymous tips online at http://www.crimestoppershamilton.com