An Ontario Court judge has struck down a cherished part of the Harper government's tough-on-crime agenda.

Justice Paul Bellefontaine ruled Friday in Oshawa, that Christopher Lewis, a crack dealer who offered to sell an undercover
police officer a gun, should not have to face the mandatory minimum sentence of three years in jail for firearms trafficking.

Mandatory minimum sentences are the backbone of the Conservative reforms to criminal law.

But Lewis's lawyer, Jeffrey Mazin, says three years was way too much for someone who never had a gun, nor did he ever intend to sell one to the officer.

``Basically it was a sales pitch to keep the officer interested in further drug sales,'' Mazin, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer, said in an interview.

The federal government's 2008 changes to the criminal code increased penalties in a number of areas, including gun control, drunk driving and the age of consent.

Up until now, Abdulle Elmi was only known as Toronto Homicide victim number 26.

Now, police revealed the identity of the 25 year old man shot to death on Thursday morning on Meadowbank Road.

Cops say he died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.

Police are still looking for help in identifying the suspects involved and ask if anyone saw Elmi around 3 o'clock Thursday morning in the area of Yonge and College - to give them a call.

(w/files from D.Bradley)

Toronto police have released photo's of two men they say roughed up an off duty police officer Thursday who tried to stop them from breaking and entering.

The cop was injured during the incident at Yonge and Sheppard, but suffered only non-life threatening injuries.

Police say one of the two suspects was holding a handgun.

If you have seen either of these suspects, you are being asked to contact police at 416-808-3204.

A Richmond Hill man has been arrested on accusations of luring children over the internet.

Back in May, York police began investigating the accused and claim he was contacting underaged victims on a sical networking site, using the username's 'askmeifyouwantto' or 'kinky_man'

Thursday, investigators conducted a search warrant at the residence of Parios Moschopolous and arrested the 29-year-old man.

The accused has been charged with Luring to Facilitate Making Child Pornography, Luring to Facilitate Sexual Assault, Luring to Facilitate Sexual Interference, Luring to Facilitate Sexual Touching and Luring to Facilitate the Possession of Child Pornography.

York police believe there could be more victims, and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

The province's Education Minister says she's disappointed with the reaction of some of Ontario's "education partners" to Ontario's tentative deal with its Catholic teachers.

Laurel Broten repeats the agreement is evidence the province can find common ground with some of its teachers to improve the education system while working within a restrained budget.

She says the agreement has the best interests of students and parents in mind, and hopes the province's "partners will do the right thing and return to discussions.”

Elementary Teacher's Federation head Sam Hammond reveals he tried to get a meeting with Broten but her office told him she would only be available on August 2nd. Her staff says the minister is happy to meet with him but there have been some scheduling issues, underlining the door is always open to get back to the table.

Meantime, PC Education Critic Lisa MacLeod says banking sick days can't ...

A $30 million lawsuit has been filed on behalf of victims of a deadly mall collapse in the northern Ontario
city of Elliot Lake.

The proposed class-action suit names the owner of the Algo Centre Mall, city officials and the provincial government.

The suit alleges the defendants failed to act on long-standing complaints about safety at the mall and did not conduct adequate inspections of the building.

The suit has been launched by the owners of a restaurant housed in the mall on behalf of all those who have been hurt by the collapse.

Two women were killed and more than 20 people were injured when a section of roof crashed through the building on June 23.

The destruction of the mall has also wiped out much of the city's commercial life, since the mall housed at least 10 per cent of total retail space.
    
(The Canadian Press)

Someone could wake up Saturday an incredibly rich human being.

The biggest prize in Canadian Lotto history is on the line when LottoMax gives away $100 million.

They have the one 50 million dollar prize - and then a further 50 - 1 million dollar prizes up for grabs.

Tickets are 5 bucks for one and you can expect lineups where-ever they are sold.

And the odds?

About one in 28.6 million.

Police say they have wrapped up their investigation into the stabbing death of a 43-year-old woman found in her Oakville townhouse early this year.

Halton regional police say the probe confirmed their suspicions that Katherine Newman was killed by her estranged husband, who was shot dead by police later that day.

Deputy police chief Bob Percy says he hopes the news will bring ``a measure of closure'' to the community, which has been ``greatly affected'' by the slayings.

Kyle Newman's death on Jan. 12 sparked a separate investigation by the province's police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit ruled the officers were ``justified in the use of lethal force'' against him after he intentionally rammed a police cruiser with his car and threatened officers with a knife.

The SIU says officers shouted at Kyle Newman to drop the knife, drew their handguns and pointed them at him, but he did not ...

A handful of Ontario's teachers unions are speaking out against the tentative deal reached with the province's Catholic teachers.

And they're not ruling out strike-action during the next school year, with strike votes taking place as soon as August.

President of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Sam Hammond says the deal jeopardizes students' futures as well as young teachers. Calling it "demoralizing" to educators, he claims it takes hundreds of millions of dollars our of the education system.

Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation President Ken Coran says he isn't supportive of the deal. He underlines the relationship the teachers have with the government is strained but says it's not too late to correct any mistakes made over the past year by the government.

Hammond says he wants to get back to the table but when he reached out to the Education Minister's office for a meeting, he was told ...

A huge sigh of relief along Lakeshore Blvd., after 2 pit crew members were taken to hospital, after being struck by one of the Indy cars involved in this weekend's race.

The Honda Indy race 'Free Day' is Friday with thousands of fans trying to get a look at cars racing along Toronto city streets at more than 200 km/h.

While two drivers were pulling into the pits, one of them overshot his spot, and struck two of the workers.

Officials say both suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Friday's training session was delayed 15 minutes while an ambulance attended to the injured workers.

Photos posted on Facebook show the extent of damage at Algo Shopping Centre in Elliot Mall before part of the roof collapsed on Saturday.

There has been a history of complaints about leaks in the mall's roof.

The Ministry of Labour had visited the building six times over the last three years to look into the leaks, mould and complaints of an unsafe escalator.

Many local residents have complained that Saturday's accident could have been prevented.

The photographs attached to the story were taken between February and April of 2012, according to the woman who says she took them and posted them to Facebook.

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PM Offers Federal Assistance in Elliot Lake Rescue Attempt

Canada's unemployment rate inched down to 7.2 per cent last month as employers added 7,300 net new jobs, with Ontario the only province showing any significant gains, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
    
That number of new jobs usually isn't enough to reduce the national unemployment rate, it had been 7.3 per cent in May, but June also saw a 16,600 drop in the number of active workers which reduced the overall size of the labour force, Statistics Canada explained.
    
It was the second month in a row that Canada saw minimal job gains after two stunning months, March and April, when the economy added 140,000 jobs.
    
Ontario was the exception last month. Canada's biggest province added 20,200 new jobs in June, all full-time.
    
Prior to the release Friday morning, economists had predicted a tight job market in June given the deteriorating global outlook ...

Two controversial ideas when it comes to the homeless in Toronto.

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti who chairs the task force on homelessness, has unveiled that he wants to dismantle the city's shelter system and sweep the homeless off the streets.

Mammoliti is set to look into the ideas when he begins working on it on Friday.

Mammoliti says the controversial mandate given to him by Mayor Rob Ford is to get rid of the shelter system altogether, and get the homeless off the streets and into what he calls "transitional housing."

"Most homeless people are sick. I think most people know that. They suffer from mental illness or an addiction of some kind so you can't just expect them to show up in a shelter. You've got to be able to take them off the streets and provide some kind of assistance to them so that they're not sleeping on the ...

Toronto Police were at the scene of a storage facility connected to a drug lab investigation in Scarborough, Friday morning.

Police say 3 search warrants were executed at the self storage facility at 65 Progress Avenue. It's located between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue.

Police say chemicals used to produce meth amphetamine were found during the search, and say it's connected to three meth labs found in a nearby condo building at 190 Burrough Drive earlier this week.

Officers in hazmat suits were seen transporting materials in and out of the units in question.

Police arrested one person in connection with the investigation on Wednesday.

30-year-old Dan Ye of Toronto has been charged with producing a controlled substance and two counts of possession for the purpose controlled substance.

Police say no other arrests have been made.

(w. files from M. Rosa)

It was probably a very uncomfortable sleep for Torontonians who were unlucky enough to be included in a power outage that started just after 8 o'clock Thursday night. 

A fire within a circuit breaker caused the lights to go out for 65-hundred homes and businesses. It was roughly in an area bordered by Carlton Street to the north and Queen's Quay, and Jarvis Street eastward to the DVP.

Toronto Hydro dispatched additional crews to work on the problem, and shortly after 4 a.m. Friday, all customers had their power again.

There was some speculation that over heating by high demand may have caused that fire, but Toronto Hydro doesn't believe that was the issue.