Maple Express | August 23, 2026 - Man dead after Toronto police shooting, SIU investigating

1. Man, 26, dead after being shot by Toronto police officer, SIU investigating

Source: CP24

Toronto police responded to reports of a "damaged vehicle driving erratically" on Saturday afternoon, attending the area of Wilson and King High Avenues, east of Allen Road in North York, at 1:24 p.m. Police said the vehicle had been involved in a collision and was attempting to flee the scene.

According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), officers arrived and encountered a man who was in possession of a firearm. There was an interaction between the man and two officers, and one of the officers discharged his firearm. The man, 26, was struck and later pronounced dead at the scene.

The SIU has assigned four investigators and three forensic investigators to the case. Toronto police sources told CP24 that at least two guns were recovered from the scene, including a handgun with a drum magazine, while a second gun was found inside the vehicle.

Witness Jeremy Pilarski said he heard three gunshots, then went to his front door and saw two officers standing over a man who had been shot; the officers immediately put on gloves and began CPR a few minutes later. Coun. James Pasternak, who represents the area and attended the scene, said it is always disturbing when violence in the city leads to a tragic outcome. The SIU asks anyone with information to contact its lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529.

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2. Police investigate gunfire at two Toronto apartment buildings

Source: CP24

Toronto police are investigating after two east-end apartment buildings were found damaged by gunfire early Sunday morning. Officers were called to the area of Thornecliffe Park Drive and Overlea Boulevard at around 5 a.m. following reports of multiple shots fired at the buildings.

Police located evidence of a firearm discharge and found damage to both apartment buildings. No injuries have been reported.

Police do not have a description of the suspect or suspects, but noted that a light-coloured sedan was seen fleeing the area. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

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3. Man charged in four sexual assaults in Markham

Source: CP24

Abdul Basit Raufi, 22, of Markham, has been charged with four sexual assaults carried out within a week.

Investigators believe there may be more victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward. The case remains under investigation.

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4. Tougher punishment for fare evasion on GO Transit

Source: CP24

GO Transit has announced that starting September 8, fare evasion fines will begin at $200.

Under the new rules, the fine will increase by $100 with each following offense.

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5. Police looking for vandal who smashed windows at Seneca Polytechnic

Source: CP24

Toronto police have released images of a suspect believed to have smashed several windows at Seneca Polytechnic in an act of vandalism.

Police are searching for the suspect and asking the public to come forward with information.

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6. U of T professor speaks on award-winning album of Yiddish songs written by Holocaust victims

Source: CP24

In 2010, University of Toronto professor Anna Shternshis was researching the history of Yiddish culture in Ukraine during the Holocaust when she came across a large collection of handwritten documents. Many were poems, some with music notes next to them, dated between 1941 and 1947, describing life in Ukraine during and after the Holocaust.

Sixteen years later, those poems have been transformed into an album titled "The Silenced Songs of World War II," which recently won the German Record Critics' Prize. Shternshis said everyone who created a song or poem knew they probably had a day or two to live, and that the materials either gave them comfort in those times or served as messages to the future.

The documents were initially collected by scholar Moisei Beregovsky while he worked at the Ukrainian Academy of Science in the 1940s. He was arrested by former Soviet premier Joseph Stalin in the 1950s for his work, and his research materials were confiscated and stored in KGB archives until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shternshis worked with 17 musicians, most of whom were Canadian, to bring the poems to life.

Shternshis has staged concerts around the world, with lyrics translated through subtitles in the local language. She said the material started as 100 per cent historical but became more contemporary in some of its aspects, and she dreams of taking the music back to Ukraine, where it was originally created.

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7. Cyclist killed after being struck by vehicle in Hamilton

Source: CP24

A cyclist is dead after being struck by a vehicle in Hamilton late Saturday night. In a news release, Hamilton police said emergency crews were called to Upper Centennial Parkway and Green Mountain Road shortly after 11 p.m. for a report of a single-vehicle collision involving a cyclist.

Police said the male cyclist, who was travelling northbound, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

As a result of the investigation, Upper Centennial Parkway is closed between Ridge Road and Green Mountain Road and is expected to remain closed for several hours. Police said alcohol and speed are not believed to have been factors. Anyone who witnessed the crash or was driving in the area is asked to check their dashcam footage and contact Hamilton police.

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8. Marco Mendicino: Why Mark Carney was right to draw a line in the sand

Source: CP24

Former federal cabinet minister Marco Mendicino writes that Prime Minister Mark Carney made the right choice in drawing a line in the sand, recalling his negotiating team from Washington, D.C. after crunch talks collapsed with its American counterparts.

Mendicino writes that the newly imposed fifty per cent tariffs will place targeted Canadian businesses and workers under considerable duress, while having a boomerang impact on the other side of the border. He says Carney's speech in the upper foyer of the West Block did four things: drew a line in the sand, mobilized the country for escalation, left the door open to getting back to the table, and renewed focus on Canada's own economic agenda.

Mendicino notes that Carney acknowledged dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs would likely raise costs for Canadians and narrow consumer choice, an admission governments rarely make. Looking ahead, Carney will convene Canada's Investment Summit in Toronto, attracting investors who together manage over $100 trillion in assets.

Mendicino is a former federal prosecutor, former federal cabinet minister for immigration and public safety, and former chief of staff to Prime Minister Carney. He is now senior counsel at Cassels, Brock & Blackwell LLP and a political analyst for CTV News.

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9. Norway to give over $9 billion to Ukraine in 2027

Source: Reuters

Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns (US$9.2 billion) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia. The donation will be for both military and humanitarian spending, Stoere was quoted as saying.

"Supporting and rebuilding Ukraine is not assistance alone. It is an investment in Europe's own security," Stoere said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Kyiv had opened a "Pandora's box" with its strikes on Russian economic targets, and that Moscow would hit back at Ukraine's most sensitive economic sectors.

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10. Can parents trust OpenAI's new ChatGPT for Teens to keep their child safe?

Source: CP24

OpenAI launched a version of ChatGPT exclusively designed for teenagers between 13 and 17 on Tuesday, saying it comes with stronger protections around content related to suicide, self-harm, and romantic or sexual chats, along with homework and study support.

Tech analyst Carmi Levy said ChatGPT for Teens is incorporated into the regular version of ChatGPT as a "new mode" that guesses a user's age, and automatically puts them into Teens mode if it thinks they lied about their age when signing up.

Levy said if a user talks about self-harm, the new version will block the conversation and suggest help or emergency and mental health services, with similar treatment for violent content, eating disorders, dangerous activities, and explicit content.

Levy cautioned that the tool is not 100 per cent safe, noting some researchers have bypassed the guardrails with a little prompting, and that parents should not assume their children are safer and should keep their guard up.

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