Ottawa Daily Digest — March 25, 2026

A nine-year-old murder case may finally move forward: Mila Barberi, a veterinary technician killed on March 14, 2017 in Vaughan while waiting to pick up her boyfriend, is the innocent bystander in a mob-related shooting. Police say Daniel Tomassetti was arrested in Mexico in August 2025 and faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and three counts of conspiracy; the family awaits his extradition and the case is adjourned until April.

A Markham hit-and-run left a pedestrian seriously injured on Feb. 19 at about 3:41 p.m. near Denison St. and Featherstone Ave., with the victim carried on a car hood and found roughly 50 metres away. York police arrested 29-year-old Nathan Kumar Persaud of Oshawa on March 20; he faces dangerous operation causing bodily harm, failure to stop and drug-trafficking-related charges, and investigators seized the vehicle and other evidence.

The Ford government is standing by its plan to close more supervised consumption sites despite warnings: the province told seven sites they’ll lose funding and face closure by mid-June after shutting nine in 2025. Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones are pushing HART hubs (28 funded, all but one operational) as an abstinence-based alternative, while critics point to an 82% rise in suspected non-fatal opioid calls (160 → 350) between April 1, 2025 and January 2026 and warn closures could cost lives.

Humber Polytechnic will proceed with layoffs after its Voluntary Employee Exit Program (VEEP) — which closed to interest on March 9 — didn’t fully close a projected fiscal gap for 2026–27. President and CEO Ann Marie Vaughan called it an "exceptionally difficult time," and the cuts follow wider financial pressures across Ontario colleges tied to falling international-student revenue and a tuition freeze.

A new Abacus Data poll for CUPE finds most Ontarians oppose the government’s freedom-of-information changes: just 24% support the plan while 60% oppose it, and opposition jumps to 73% when respondents learn the changes would be retroactive. The move would shield the premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and staff from transparency oversight, and the poll says 63% want PC MPPs to vote against the measure.

A Peterborough coffee shop owner remembered Air Canada first officer Mackenzie Gunther as a kind regular who loved coffee after Gunther died in the LaGuardia crash that collided with a fire truck. Gunther flew with Jazz Aviation via Seneca College’s Pathways Program; the March crash carried 72 passengers and four crew, more than 40 people were hospitalized and Gunther and pilot Antoine Forest both died.

Ontario will miss the federal April 1 deadline to ensure nurse practitioners’ medically necessary services are publicly funded, though provinces aren’t penalized until April 2027. Health Minister Sylvia Jones says Ontario will align with the newly clarified federal guidance but is unsatisfied with Ottawa’s approach after pushing for clarity since 2024, drawing criticism from opposition MPPs who want answers and possible reimbursement for patients charged out-of-pocket.

Owen Sound’s deputy mayor plans a motion (April 13 council meeting) to have the city report costs and prepare invoices for rescue expenses after dozens of anglers needed helicopter airlifts when an ice shelf broke on March 8. Fisherman Kevin Fox worries billing will discourage people from calling for help; officials note previous rescues have been billed (about $15,000 in a 2020 Collingwood case), and some anglers lost thousands in gear.

The Ontario Hockey League is pitching expansion to cities that commit to building modern arenas: commissioner Bryan Crawford told Chatham-Kent councillors the 20-team league drew a record 3.2+ million fans last year and hasn’t expanded since 1998. The OHL wants 5,000-seat arenas with 30 suites costing roughly $150–$200 million, and the league is exploring "a couple of teams" over several years in Ontario and the U.S., including markets like Vaughan.

An unknown person was found dead after a large house fire in Mississauga on Monday night (around 10:40 p.m.) at Mirage Place and Select Court, where callers reported a loud explosion before the home was fully engulfed. The Office of the Fire Marshal is leading the probe into cause and origin, the coroner will investigate the death, the structure is unstable and all known residents — who were out of the country — have been accounted for.

The Ford government plans to waive the provincial portion of HST on newly built homes for one year in a bid to jump-start sluggish housing sales, an announcement expected with the March 26 budget from Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy. The original program targeted first-time buyers ($470 million over three years); widening the waiver to all buyers for one year could cost about $2 billion, while Ontario’s budget sits at $236 billion with a $13.4-billion deficit and housing starts were 62,561 in 2025.