Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing backlash from First Nations leaders after claiming they “can’t just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government” on the eve of a summit with several chiefs at Queen’s Park.

On Thursday, Ford plans to host leaders of the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 municipalities in Ontario, to discuss his controversial recent mining law and critical minerals in northern Ontario.

Discussing the upcoming meeting at an unrelated news conference Wednesday, Ford listed a series of funding commitments his government had made to First Nations and said he was “bending over backwards to take care of them,” adding he has treated them “like gold.”

The funding Ford listed included the province’s $3 billion Indigenous financing program and $70 million in training money.

“Treat them well, give them whatever they want for them to prosper,” Ford said, describing instructions he said he had given to his Indigenous affairs minister.

“But there’s going to be a point where you can’t just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government. You’ve got to be able to take care of yourselves.”

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The comments sparked an intense backlash from First Nations leaders.

“Doug Ford alleges that First Nations ‘come hat in hand.’ We don’t. That we have to be ‘able to take care of’ ourselves. We do,” the Chiefs of Ontario said in a statement.

“It is Indigenous History Month — we should not need to teach elected officials about their own colonial government.”

Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, the only Indigenous member of the legislature, called the premier’s comments “offensive and racist” in a statement.

“Today’s remarks prove that the premier has a fundamental lack of understanding of Ontario’s treaty relationship with First Nations,” he wrote.

“He is trying to create divisions in our province and is taking us back. This premier has made it clear that he won’t bring people together, uphold the honour of the crown, and obtain free, prior, and informed consent.”

The comments come as backlash over the government’s controversial mining legislation continues.

At the beginning of June, the Progressive Conservatives passed Bill 5 into law. It is mining legislation which gives the government the power to create Special Economic Zones where laws can be sidestepped.

The new zones, plus the new omnibus law, are something the Ford government says is designed to speed up the construction of large infrastructure projects, particularly mines.

Ford has said the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario will be declared the first such zone.

The passage of the bill drew fury from labour leaders and environmental advocates. It was the reaction of First Nations groups, however, that the government has paid the most attention to.

They fear the law will threaten their treaty rights and be used to launch mining and other projects without proper consultation. Some have promised blockades and other disruptive protests if the government doesn’t change course.

The government has promised to consult on the legislation, but only once it has been passed.

At the news conference on Wednesday, Ford said he wanted First Nations groups to support his mining aspirations.

“When you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you’re saying, ‘No, no, I don’t want to touch that, by the way, give me money’ — not going to happen,” he said.

“But we’ll help them develop the mines and become very prosperous in their communities, something they’ve never had, ever in their entire lives.”

— With files from The Canadian Press

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A major wiretap investigation has blown open a violent criminal network allegedly operating inside the Greater Toronto Area’s towing industry.

Toronto police allege the criminal networks are behind a wave of shootings, arsons and violent crimes aimed at seizing control of the multi-million-dollar towing business.

Police said an investigation, dubbed Project Yankee, led to the arrest of 20 people and 111 charges, including 52 counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

According to police, the suspects were members of a self-made group known as “The Union,” described as a tightly-organized criminal ring of tow truck operators vying for dominance in the industry.

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“The group was believed to be responsible for numerous acts of violence intended to gain control over the towing industry,” said Chief Supt. Joseph Matthews on Wednesday.

In a video released by police, a suspect is seen throwing a Molotov cocktail at a property in Toronto in March, in an apparent attempt to terrorize a business rival.

“This was a form of intimidation directed at the victim, who is part of the tow truck industry,” Matthews said.

Police said the months-long wiretap operation helped disrupt multiple murder plots and stop planned attacks before they were carried out.

“Various initiatives, task forces and investigations have led to dozens of arrests, hundreds of charges and many crime guns seized, all tow truck industry-related,” said Chief Myron Demkiw Wednesday.

Police executed 14 search warrants and seized multiple weapons, including two firearms. Among the items confiscated were three bulletproof Cadillacs, believed to have been used by members of the group.

In 2024, 63 shooting and firearm discharge incidents were linked to tow truck-related disputes, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all shootings and firearm discharges in Toronto.

So far in 2025, these incidents have continued to occur, currently accounting for approximately 15 per cent of the total.

Due to a publication ban, police cannot release further details about the accused or specifics involving the connection between each tow truck-related incident.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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An off-duty Toronto police officer guilty of assaulting a teenager during a “Kijiji deal gone bad” has been handed a suspended sentence and 12 months probation.

Const. Calvin Au was also given a three-year weapons ban by Superior Court Justice Jennifer Woollcombe inside a Brampton, Ont., courtroom Wednesday.

“I am very concerned that despite his all of his police training and experience, Au demonstrated the inability or unwillingness to assess a situation and then to use reasonable force,” Woollcombe said.

“Rather than engage the de-escalation tactics he has been taught, he went directly to using excessive force in a situation where there were many other better options. His judgement was extremely poor.”

Au was found guilty of assault, but not guilty of assault causing bodily harm, in November for the April 26, 2021, incident involving 19-year-old Chadd Facey.

That day, off-duty Toronto police Const. Gurmakh Benning agreed to meet Facey to purchase an Apple Watch after he had posted on Kijiji to sell it.

2:08
Assault trial for Toronto cop begins

During the trial, court heard Benning had asked Au, his partner, to accompany him, given he viewed Au as more tech savvy and wanted him to authenticate the watch. Facey negotiated a price of $400 with Benning.

Dressed in plain clothes, the two met Facey in the parking lot at Beryl Ford Public School on Ironshield Drive, near Cottrelle Boulevard and Highway 50, in Brampton for the transaction.

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Benning had purchased the watch before realizing it was counterfeit. Facey took off and following a five-minute foot pursuit with Au, Benning caught up to him and got his money back.

At the trial, Benning testified that Au took Facey down, without saying anything, because he thought Au didn’t know that he had already got his money back.

Au testified, in his own defence, that he didn’t know Benning had got his money back and took down Facey because he was going to arrest him. However, he did not identify himself as an officer or say he was arresting Facey. Woollcombe said she found that problematic when she delivered her ruling.

Woollcombe said in her ruling she found Au used force that was “excessive and unreasonable.”

“The take down unnecessarily increased the risk of injury to Facey when there were other less forceful options available to Au.”

2:01
An off-duty Toronto Police officer has been charged with manslaughter.

Au was originally charged with manslaughter, but the charge was later downgraded to assault causing bodily harm. At the beginning of the trial, an agreed statement of facts was entered that said “the Crown is not in a position to allege that Facey’s death was caused by the interaction with Au.”

Benning had called 911 and told the dispatcher about the “Kijiji deal gone bad” before the off-duty officers took off. Facey had called his friends who had earlier dropped him off at the location where the transaction took place after the rip-off. The friends testified they arrived on scene after the assault and picked him up.

A few hours later, Facey’s friends noticed a bump on his forehead. He later died in hospital because of an intracerebral hemorrhage.

Woollcombe found that the forensic evidence was not clear on how Facey got a bruise on his forehead and said the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Au was guilty of assault causing bodily harm.

Crown prosecutors were asking Au to serve four months in custody, followed by 12 months’ probation, as well as a five-year weapons ban and DNA order. Au’s defence was asking for a conditional discharge and said a DNA order was not necessary

Woollcombe said Wednesday Au needed to be sentenced for the assault he was convicted of, and not for causing Facey’s death.

“The sentence imposed on Au for this assault must not seek to punish him for Facey’ death or the devastation that his death has brought to his family,” Woollcombe said.

“I’m mindful that any conviction will put Au’s career in jeopardy. I do not think it is necessary to impose … a sentence that will inevitably result in his dismissal.”

Woollcombe ruled Au should have no communication with Facey’s family, take anger management counselling as directed by his probation officer and be subject to a DNA order.

Should he remain employed by the Toronto Police Service, he should take remedial training and 50 hours of community service focused on improving relations between police and the Black community, Woollcombe ruled.

“While the evidence before me suggests that this incident has caused a loss of public confidence in the police within the Black community, there is no evidence that either Au or Benning was influenced in any way by the fact that Facey was Black,” Woollcombe said.

“They were motivated by the desire to retrieve the $400 paid for the fake watch. Race was irrelevant to them.”

Au has been suspended with pay since the charges were laid, and is still facing charges under provincial legislation governing policing.

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