Maple Express Evening | November 12, 2026: Two teens charged in East York assault

Source: CP24

1. Two teens charged in East York assault that left victim with life-threatening injuries

Toronto police say two teenagers have been charged in an assault and robbery investigation in East York that left a victim with life-threatening injuries. The incident happened on Monday night, and police provided details of the charges this week.

Police say officers responded to reports of a stabbing in the area of Overlea Boulevard and Thorncliffe Park Drive shortly after 8:30 p.m. Monday. The two suspects allegedly assaulted the victim with an edged weapon, and the victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The suspects allegedly fled the scene but were later arrested.

A 17-year-old male faces multiple charges, including disguise with intent, carrying a concealed weapon, assault with a weapon, two counts of failing to comply with a probation order and possession of property obtained by crime. A 16-year-old female faces several charges as well, including disguise with intent, robbery with a weapon and possession of property obtained by crime. The allegations have not been tested in court, and the identities of the accused cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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2. Teen sentenced to two years in custody for shootings at two GTA synagogues

York Regional Police Chief Paulo Da Silva says an 18-year-old has been sentenced to two years in a custodial facility for shooting at two synagogues in Vaughan and Toronto in March. The teen pleaded guilty earlier this month to several offences.

Police say the shootings happened on March 6 at Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto and Shaarei Shomyim, separated by only 20 minutes. No injuries were reported, but both synagogues suffered gunfire damage. Da Silva says that after the two years in custody, the teen will face one year of community supervision and was also handed a two-year firearms prohibition and ordered to provide a DNA sample.

Da Silva said the punishment reflects the maximum custodial sentence available under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, recognizing "the fear, trauma, and harm these acts of violence caused to the Jewish communities in York Region and Toronto." "Hate and violence have no place in our community," he said. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto welcomed the sentencing in a joint statement this week, calling it an important step toward justice for Jewish families across the Greater Toronto Area.

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3. Hold-and-secure orders lifted at Bowmanville schools as possibly armed suspect remains at large

Hold-and-secure orders at several schools in Bowmanville were lifted Thursday afternoon as Durham Regional Police searched for a home invasion suspect who may be armed. One suspect remained outstanding as of the latest update.

Police said on social media that officers responded to the area of Longworth Avenue and Scugog Street for reports of an armed home invasion in the afternoon. Officers arrived and quickly took two suspects into custody, but a third suspect remains outstanding and "is possibly armed."

No injuries have been reported. The report was updated at 4:15 p.m. as the search continued.

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4. U of T rejects report and recommendations on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab discrimination

The University of Toronto released a nearly 300-page review on Thursday that found a "general pattern of over-policing and under-protecting" of Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians, but the school says it cannot accept the report or its recommendations.

The report was produced by the university's Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian discrimination working group. It is based on consultations with 85 people and small groups as well as 525 survey responses from students, staff, faculty and librarians across the school's three campuses, carried out between March of last year and January. It lists 57 recommendations covering academic freedom, on-campus security methods, institutional autonomy and other concerns, and describes restrictions on speech and events, inconsistent complaint processes and double standards in enforcement related to protests and postering.

The university said it received the final report a month ago and released it online Thursday along with its response as part of a commitment to transparency. The school said the report "departs significantly from past equity reports in several ways," including "lengthy commentary about events abroad," and that some recommendations clash with collective agreements and academic freedom protections or fall outside its jurisdiction. It acknowledged that discrimination against those groups exists at the school and promised immediate actions, including ensuring appropriate Muslim prayer spaces and multi-faith spaces on each of its three campuses and releasing an e-module on discrimination through its new office of human rights, equity and inclusion.

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5. York Region police staff sergeant headed to trial over Santa Claus parade driving

A veteran, high-ranking York Regional Police officer accused of driving through a pedestrian crosswalk at last year's Santa Claus parade in Innisfil, Ont., is headed for trial, with dates set for next June in Bradford.

Laurie Perks, 54, is charged with dangerous driving during the annual parade along Innisfil Beach Road. South Simcoe police allege Perks, who has been a police officer for nearly 30 years, was behind the wheel of a grey Audi SUV that witnesses said hopped the curb and drove through a trail and crosswalk behind a plaza after being prevented from driving through the parade route last November. Witnesses told police the Audi left the plaza parking lot, then travelled through the pedestrian walkway to find a way around the parade that had blocked access to the main road and surrounding streets.

Police released several photos and a description of the vehicle while searching for the driver, and days later it was revealed a senior officer from York Regional Police had been charged. Perks worked for years as a media officer, then as a detective, and is now a staff sergeant. She is scheduled to return to a Bradford courtroom early in the new year. The allegations against her have not been tested in court.

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6. Documents allege Ryan Wedding paid US$100K a month for law-enforcement intel

Newly unsealed U.S. court documents allege that Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned accused drug trafficker, was charged a US$500,000 initiation fee and an average of US$100,000 per month for access to sensitive law-enforcement information and a network of organized crime leaders.

One indictment names Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado, also known as "El General" and "Mini," whom prosecutors describe as a founder and leader of El Cártel Nuevo Imperio. Investigators say he was shot and killed by Mexican police last week. According to the documents, he provided members of Wedding's organization with near-daily rotating code words that cocaine traffickers could use when communicating with Mexican police and military personnel at checkpoints, allowing shipments to pass through without being intercepted.

A separate six-count indictment names 51-year-old Roberto Gomez, accused of obtaining sensitive information from people with access to Mexican and U.S. law-enforcement agencies and passing it to associates including Wedding, covering arrests, drug seizures, warrant executions and criminal charges. Wedding was arrested in Mexico in January after being placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list; U.S. authorities accuse him of leading a violent international drug trafficking organization and ordering several murders. The charges have not been tested in court.

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7. Teen charged after woman selling diamond ring bear-sprayed in Hamilton

Hamilton police announced Thursday that a 17-year-old boy has been arrested after a woman selling a diamond ring was bear-sprayed during a Facebook Marketplace meetup.

The incident happened on Aug. 16 at a Tim Hortons on King Street West, police said. Investigators say the woman met two suspects and agreed on a price for her diamond ring, but after the electronic payment did not come through, one suspect allegedly tried to take the ring.

Police allege the woman held onto the ring but was dragged from her vehicle and sprayed in the face with what investigators believe was bear spray. The teen was charged with robbery, assault with a weapon, possession contrary to order and possession of a prohibited item. The charges have not been tested in court, and the teen cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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8. Microsoft outage disrupts workday for tens of thousands in Canada, U.S.

Tens of thousands of users in Canada and the U.S. reported problems with Microsoft products Thursday afternoon, according to outage tracker Downdetector. There were nearly 140,000 reports of issues with Outlook as of 1:30 p.m. ET, and more than 63,000 reports remained as of 3:15 p.m.

Microsoft's service incidents social media account said it was investigating. "We've determined a portion of infrastructure is experiencing elevated load across multiple regions, which is likely contributing to the connectivity errors," it wrote.

Issues were also reported with Copilot and Microsoft 365, the subscription suite that includes Word, Excel, Teams and OneDrive. Some users took to social media to lament the outage, while others encouraged the company not to fix the issue too quickly. Downdetector also noted reported issues with Amazon Web Services (1,350) and Gmail (1,000) shortly after 2 p.m.

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9. Pfizer to stop selling hormone therapy Premarin in Canada

Pfizer will no longer sell its hormone replacement therapy Premarin in Canada following an internal review, the company confirmed to Reuters on Thursday. The product has been available as a vaginal cream and three strengths of oral tablets.

Premarin vaginal cream, used to treat symptoms of menopause, has been in shortage in Canada since June and no further batches will be supplied. Pfizer said the decision was not related to any new safety, efficacy or quality concerns and that other treatment options are available in Canada. Existing inventories of Premarin tablets in 0.3 milligram, 0.625 mg and 1.25 mg strengths are expected to last until about mid-2027, although stocks could run out sooner if demand increases.

The move comes as some other hormone therapy products for menopause symptoms face supply constraints in Canada. Earlier this month, Health Canada said certain strengths of estradiol transdermal patches made by Bayer and Sandoz were in short supply, with intermittent shortages expected to continue until early 2027. Premarin Intravenous, used in hospitals for abnormal uterine bleeding due to hormonal imbalance, is not affected.

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10. Ottawa serves Stellantis notice of default over Brampton plant sale

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly served Stellantis with a notice of default on its federal funding agreement Thursday after the automaker signed a deal to sell its Brampton, Ont. assembly plant to defence contractor Roshel.

In a letter Thursday, Joly said Stellantis breached a 2022 funding agreement by halting Jeep Compass production at the plant, failing or refusing to identify a replacement vehicle, not maintaining any production at the facility, and closing the plant. She gave the company 30 days to demonstrate it will "correct these conditions" or she will declare that it is in default, warning of penalties including termination of the federal funding deal and a requirement to repay all or part of the funding received, plus interest. Joly said she never indicated support for a sale to Roshel or that such a sale would cure Stellantis' existing breaches.

The minister said the transaction, announced Monday and expected to close by the end of this year, shows "Stellantis is no longer diligently working in good faith" to resolve the government's concerns. In 2022, the federal government committed up to $529 million to help Stellantis retool its Brampton and Windsor facilities for electrified vehicles, while Ontario committed $513 million. Retooling began at Brampton in early 2024, but the automaker paused its plan to produce the Jeep Compass there in February 2025, later moving production to Illinois and leaving more than 2,000 workers laid off and the plant idled indefinitely.

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