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Brendan Kennedy

@bkstar.bsky.social
816 followers 103 following 72 posts

Toronto Star investigative reporter. bkennedy@thestar.ca. I'm on Signal. SecureDrop: thestar.com/securedrop

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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“I had to get Drug Squad on board, Major Crime on board, f — ing DS’s [detective sergeants] on board … pay everybody.” Newly released court documents include more shocking allegations of Toronto cops' protection racket scheme: www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
thestar.com
Toronto cop’s planned side hustles included erotic massage parlours and illegal pot shops, documents allege
Const. Timothy Barnhardt’s alleged plan to launch a network of black-market businesses are among the explosive allegations revealed in court filings.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
One cop allegedly asking another if he "looked f---ed" because he was about to go to daycare. “Just put your sunglasses on that’s all. You got…what do they call them…cocaine eyes.” On the alleged "multi-level drug-trafficking operation" involving Toronto cops: www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...
thestar.com
Toronto cops were dealing drugs to each other, corruption probe docs allege. ‘You got ... cocaine eyes’
Newly released Project South records detail what investigators allege was an “organized, multi-level drug trafficking operation."
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEW: Project South court documents include explosive new details of alleged corruption within the Toronto Police Service, including casual bribe-taking, ties to organized crime, drug dealing b/w officers, a protection racket & more. Latest w/ @aobrien.bsky.social: www.thestar.com/news/gta/stu...
thestar.com
Explosive corruption allegations within the Toronto Police Service detailed in newly unsealed court records
A thwarted assassination attempt of a jail official helped break open one of the biggest police corruption scandals in the city’s history.
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Frédérik Plante @fxplante.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I joined @thestar.com’s Ottawa bureau today. I’m still an investigative reporter, now focusing on the federal government. My DMs are open and you can also reach out to me on Signal fx_plante.01 or by email fplante@thestar.ca
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Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 31/08/2026
Quitting Twitter and Facebook has to become an imparative for Canada. (and, obviously, everyone else.) www.thestar.com/opinion/star... Gift link: www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Justin Ling: It’s time Canada logged out of tech platforms owned by Donald Trump toadies
If our institutions acted, they could hasten the ongoing exodus from services peddled by allies of the Trump administration.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 06/08/2026
#Breaking Carney government restores health coverage it had cut for refugees trib.al/pqrqwLp
trib.al
Carney government restores health coverage it had cut for refugees
The Carney government has quietly walked back some of its cuts to a program providing temporary health-care coverage to refugees and asylum-seekers.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"If the car there need the hit squad.” Latest Project South story w/ @aobrien.bsky.social offers new details on the suspected gun-for-hire network connected to the alleged attempted assassination of a Toronto jail official. www.thestar.com/news/chillin...
thestar.com
Chilling new details on alleged gun-for-hire ‘hit squad’ police say were behind botched Project South assassination
Growing gun-for-hire crime trend believed to be behind at least 27 shootings this year in Toronto area.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Thanks to Maria Kestane and @thebigstory.bsky.social for having me on earlier this week to talk about my reporting on the Maplehurst inmate abuse scandal, which continues to have ramifications in the courts. lnk.to/bigstory
lnk.to
The Big Story
An in-depth look at the issues, culture and personalities shaping Canada today.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 19/07/2026
Star #exclusive: Prosecutors appear to have dropped several charges against the main targets of the Project South police corruption probe as the Crown moves to take the most serious allegations to trial. @bkstar.bsky.social, @j-pags.bsky.social, and @aobrien.bsky.social have the latest:
thestar.com
Prosecutors appear to drop some charges against Toronto cops, others as most serious allegations in corruption case head to trial
Indictments filed in Superior Court are missing numerous offences listed against the officers and others when investigators announced the Project South arrests in early February.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The Toronto jail official who police say was targeted in a murder plot potentially over his drug enforcement testified Wednesday in an unrelated court case that he was always vigilant in trying to prevent contraband from entering the facility — but never abusive. www.thestar.com/news/crime/t...
thestar.com
Toronto jail official targeted in murder plot tells court ‘our job is to keep the institution safe’
Toronto official who police say was targeted potentially over his drug enforcement testified in court in a case unrelated to Project South.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The Toronto jail official targeted in the botched assassination that sparked the Project South investigation into police corruption is being accused of overseeing abusive practices against inmates, including forcing inmates to have bowel movements in front of guards. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Tyrant or upstanding professional? Starkly different portraits emerge of Toronto jail official targeted in Project South botched killing
Toronto jail official targeted in botched killing that sparked the Project South probe into police corruption accused of trampling inmates’ rights.
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The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 08/07/2026
Doug Ford's government has rewritten so many of Ontario's environmental laws since winning the 2025 election that it can be hard to keep track of all the changes. Here's our comprehensive guide to Ontario's environment under Ford's third majority: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-elec...
thenarwhal.ca
Bill 5 and a lost climate plan: Ontario’s environment in Ford’s third majority | The Narwhal
From killing the Endangered Species Act to fast-tracking mining approvals, the Ontario government spent its eighth year in office rewriting rules for the environment
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Emma McIntosh @emmamci.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
My latest. This story is based on FOI documents released before the Ford government changed the law. Under the new rules, the province will now be able to keep records like this secret.
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Alex Boyd @alexboyd.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
🚨Journalist request 🚨: is anyone on here an Ontarian who has moved to Alberta relatively recently who wants to talk about how the separatism chatter is landing as a newcomer? Would love to chat if so! Send me an email! aboyd@thestar.ca
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Describing what Harris Mohamed and other inmates suffered at Maplehurst in Dec 2023 as "horrific torture," another Ontario judge has tossed criminal charges due to the "vengeful" attack by guards. Here's a un-paywalled gift link to read the full story: www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?...
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The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · 28/05/2026
EXCLUSIVE: In the wake of the pandemic, the Ford government set the target of one proactive inspection a year at every long-term care home. But our analysis of thousands of inspection reports reveals less than 40% of LTC homes received a proactive inspection in 2025. thelocal.to/ontario-long...
thelocal.to
The Ford Government Is Failing to Meet Its Own Long-Term Care Inspection Goals | The Local
Exclusive analysis of more than 17,500 long-term care home inspection reports reveals a provincial inspection regime failing to meet its own accountability goals, with seniors who lack family advocate...
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Calvi Leon @calvileon.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
The children of a couple killed in a botched hit allegedly ordered by Ryan Wedding have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Peel police. They allege officers knew their family was in danger but failed to warn them during a visit just four days earlier. Full story here: shorturl.at/Wc7KH
thestar.com
Ryan Wedding and the murders in Caledon: Lawsuit claims Peel police failed to warn this family about the hit men looking for a trucker named Bobby
Shortly before the murders of Jagtar Sidhu and Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, a pair of Peel police officers knocked on their door looking for a man named “Bobby.” Days later, it
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Ed Tubb @edtubb.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Details of how Ontario police are using ODITs are so secret that the office behind the deal "is making the Crown and local police sign an agreement to potentially drop major prosecutions rather than reveal the name of the company that made the tool."
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
One lawyer called the extent of the discipline for the Maplehurst prisoner abuse scandal "grossly inadequate" given what transpired at the jail. “I think it’s a total farce, to be honest." The province refused to tell us whether any staff were disciplined, but we obtained docs they filed in court.
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
How much is Canada spending to fight First Nations in court, you ask? We ATIPd the legal costs for four drinking water cases - and were told this information was secret.
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
More than a decade after pledging to end long-term drinking water advisories, the feds are presiding over a ramping-up of legal acrimony in First Nations' fight for water. And First Nations are fighting back. "It's litigate or go home," one lawyer told me. ijb.utoronto.ca/news/liberal...
ijb.utoronto.ca
Liberals are playing legal hardball with First Nations over drinking water - Investigative Journalism Bureau
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is playing legal hardball with First Nations fighting for clean drinking water — and First Nations are fighting back. Interviews and hundreds of pages o...
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Liberals are playing legal hardball with First Nations over drinking water. They're pulling the plug on settlement talks, seeking to overturn First Nations' victories and using tactics their own guideline advises lawyers against. ijb.utoronto.ca/news/liberal...
ijb.utoronto.ca
Liberals are playing legal hardball with First Nations over drinking water - Investigative Journalism Bureau
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is playing legal hardball with First Nations fighting for clean drinking water — and First Nations are fighting back. Interviews and hundreds of pages o...
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Isaac Callan @isaaccallan.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
NEW: Official government documents written and saved in Google Docs are no longer covered by Ontario’s freedom of information laws, the province has decreed, as its transparency clampdown continues to roll out. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1184611...
globalnews.ca
Premier’s office files saved in Google Docs excluded from Ontario transparency requests | Globalnews.ca
Global News was engaged in an appeal to get access to some nine documents created by staff in Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office and stored in Google's cloud service.
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
"unlike the Americans, who have gone decades without tracking their gold supplies, the Canadians have known that they were getting it from a country where cocaine trafficking, paramilitary violence and the gold trade are intertwined." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/w...
nytimes.com
Canada Says Its Gold Is Traceable and Clean. So We Traced It.
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
We don't talk enough about incarcerated people - about their rights, about how they live, about how to rehabilitate them. And we certainly don't talk enough about the ways Canada renders Indigenous people unfree. bsky.app/profile/mehl...
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Isaac Callan @isaaccallan.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
🧵Ontario's jails are operating way over capacity, new data shows, with the province-wide average at 130 per cent. Some are as high as 160-plus per cent. Here's what the data we obtained via freedom of information shows, and how the government is defending it. #OnPoli
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
A veteran Toronto police detective pleaded guilty yesterday to assault causing bodily harm for surprise-tackling a man in a homeless shelter, breaking his ribs & rupturing his spleen. The cop thought the man had committed a sexual assault, but it was the wrong guy. www.thestar.com/news/crime/a...
thestar.com
A Toronto cop mistook this man for a suspect. The violent encounter left him with broken ribs and ruptured spleen
Det. Const. Christopher Merritt pleaded guilty to the 2024 assault and will serve no jail time — a sentence his victim feels is insufficient.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
The Maplehurst inmate abuse scandal led to the collapse of a murder case. Now, other serious criminal charges will likely be tossed. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner has remained conspicuously silent. On the fallout from Justice Conlan's decision: www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
The Maplehurst inmate abuse scandal led to the collapse of a murder case. Now, other ‘serious’ criminal charges will likely be tossed
The Ford government, which has been largely silent on the jail staff's conduct, had a “serious lack of proper oversight" over Maplehurst, judge said.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
I would read Anna write about watching grass grow, so I highly recommend her fascinating - and funny! - piece on her latest attempt to overcome treatment-resistant depression: deep brain stimulation. Great presentation, too.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
The torturous abuse of inmates was only part of why an Ontario judge threw out 1st-degree murder charges last week. His ruling makes clear the decision was as much about the attempted coverup & how jail staff further lied in court. I took a deeper look at those lies: www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Inside the many lies told by Maplehurst jail officials trying to cover up the ‘torture’ of inmates
The deceit ranged from serious attempts to conceal what happened, to absurd, easily disprovable lies that left an Ontario judge stunned.
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I got experimental brain surgery. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Could a device implanted in my brain cure my depression? I was ready to find out
Over the past 14 years, I’ve often fantasized about some scan revealing the locus of my mood disorder. Now, we were as close as we’d likely ever get
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Joey Votto, writing in the @thestar.com, about the last time the Jays were here. "My memory is of a dark living room, a wood-grained box TV & the bang of a screen door. My parents, my younger brother & I were sitting around the television with the rest of the city." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
Joey Votto: The 1993 Blue Jays changed my childhood. The 2025 team is poised to do that for a new generation
To say the early '90s Blue Jays were impactful during my life would be an understatement. It’s hard for me to see players from that roster and not become giddy
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Ontario judge throws out first-degree murder charges against three former Maplehurst inmates, saying the collective punishment they suffered in jail was akin to torture, and the jail's attempts to cover up what happened amounted to egregious state misconduct. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Ontario judge throws out murder charges over Maplehurst jail guards’ abuse of inmates and attempted coverup. ‘The unthinkable has come to pass.’
The stay of murder charges marks the most serious consequence of the prisoner abuse scandal, which continues to imperil criminal cases across Ontario.
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Jack Hauen @jackhauen.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
A thread of recent @thetrillium.bsky.social reporting on the Skills Development Fund. #onpoli
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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Canada's government presented no evidence justifying making bail harder to get in its briefing today. @cancivlib.bsky.social's Shakir Rahim says the data isn't there.
“The CCLA and countless others have repeatedly called on the federal government to collect national standardized data about bail to inform any reforms. Despite three successive Ministers of Justice recognizing the need for this data, today’s reforms again signal no effort to collect it. How can we evaluate something we do not measure?”
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Jessica Smith Cross @jessiecatherine.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
NEW: ‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson. www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...
thetrillium.ca
‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals
John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson
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Mickey Djuric @mickeydjuric.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Statement from the president of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Egypt: “It is unprecedented that Canadian media be entirely excluded from a Canadian prime minister’s foreign trip.”
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Jack Hauen @jackhauen.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
ICYMI: Months before he was labour minister, David Piccini was in Leafs glass seats with a director of a company he later granted $7.5M to. Piccini attended the Parisian wedding of the company’s lobbyist. From me and @charliepinkerton.bsky.social. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...
thetrillium.ca
Labour minister was in Leafs glass seats with director of company he granted funding to
The ‘lower-scoring’ company got $7.5M of tax dollars through David Piccini’s office and is a client of the lobbyist whose Parisian wedding the minister recently attended
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Forgive the repost, but I wanted to share once more our story on the systemic, inhumane jail conditions occurring across Ontario, and the consequences of those conditions for inmates, staff and the entire judicial system. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Ontario’s jail conditions are inhumane and disgraceful, judges say. Criminals are serving shorter sentences as a result
As the premier calls for bail reforms that would see more people locked up while awaiting trial, Ontario’s jails are “in a state of growing crisis.”
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Most of my reporting on jail conditions this year has focused on Maplehurst in Milton. But the dysfunction in Ontario's jails is system-wide. Today's story shows how the inhumane conditions across the province impact staff, inmates & the judicial system as a whole. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Ontario’s jail conditions are inhumane and disgraceful, judges say. Criminals are serving shorter sentences as a result
As the premier calls for bail reforms that would see more people locked up while awaiting trial, Ontario’s jails are “in a state of growing crisis.”
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Denise Balkissoon @balkissoon.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
This morning at 8 am, my child's teacher told me it was already 33 C inside the classroom. Members of the Ontario government have air conditioning in their offices, yet they're not doing basic repairs in Toronto schools, let alone protecting our kids from extreme heat. thelocal.to/ontario-educ...
thelocal.to
Province Invests $1.3 Billion in New Schools—Just Not in Toronto | The Local
The Tories will fund 45 school building projects across the province—and not a single one in the TDSB, the biggest board in the province. Critics say the opaque process puts politics over students.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
"Since January alone, the organization said it has relocated to Canada 70 queer refugees who were originally bound for the United States." @thestar.com's Nathan Bawaan on Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad: www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...
thestar.com
How this Toronto organization is helping LGBTQ refugees avoid the U.S.
Rainbow Railroad, a global non-profit based in Toronto dedicated to support persecuted LGBTQ people, says it relocated 300 queer refugees last year.
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 20/06/2025
Gabor Mate for the Star: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
Gabor Maté: What is happening in Gaza is an injury to our collective conscience. We must be allowed to speak out
It is the issue of our time. Silence is not an option.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 19/06/2025
Carney government clarifies Canadian border bill’s asylum changes as critics call for complete withdrawal
thestar.com
Carney government clarifies Canadian border bill’s asylum changes as critics call for complete withdrawal
Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, would restrict access to asylum, expand surveillance of migrants and citizens alike, critics say.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
NEW: Ontario's government is facing a slew of lawsuits, including a proposed class-action, from former Maplehurst inmates subject to a brutal collective punishment in December 2023. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Ontario government facing lawsuits from inmates over ‘unconscionable conduct’ by Maplehurst jail guards
The lawsuits mark a widening fallout from the violent incident, which has already compromised dozens of criminal prosecutions.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Ontario's Ombudsman is launching a new investigation into the Ministry of the Solicitor General's response to the December 2023 collective punishment incident at Maplehurst "due to significant public concerns about transparency, accountability and inmates’ rights." www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
thestar.com
Ontario Ombudsman to probe complaints of province’s response to Maplehurst guards’ crackdown on inmates
The latest investigation followed the Ministry of Solicitor General's two internal investigative reports that found widespread institutional failure at the jail located in Milton.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Dislike!
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
If you have some time today to spend on in-depth reporting, great writing & fantastic presentation, spend it with this Kate Allen & Nathan Pilla story about how more workers are critically injured as the temperature rises. www.thestar.com/interactives...
thestar.com
Hot days at work can be dangerous — even deadly. The Ford government said it would protect workers. But here’s what’s happening
An analysis of 13 years of critical injury data obtained by the Star shows heat poses a growing threat
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
NEW: Hours of audio and video evidence is missing from Maplehurst's crackdown on inmates in December 2023. The missing footage, which some jail staff allege was purposely destroyed, has fueled calls for a public inquiry into the violent incident. www.thestar.com/news/investi...
thestar.com
Hours of audio and video evidence is missing from Maplehurst guards’ crackdown on inmates
The missing footage, which some jail staff allege was purposely destroyed, has fueled calls for a public inquiry into the violent incident.
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Brendan Kennedy @bkstar.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Our latest on the Maplehurst scandal focuses on the number of criminal prosecutions that have been compromised by the mass strip search and collective punishment of inmates, who are receiving reduced sentences or other judicial remedies because the jail violated their Charter rights.
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