Kevin Drew will appear in the Season 2 premiere of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent this week, and the Broken Social Scene frontman is hoping the episode will spur conversations about affordability in the city.
Drew plays Mick McCarthy, an unhoused encampment activist, in the Season 2 premiere airing Thursday (February 20) on Citytv.
"Our city is suffering from miscommunication and mismanagement," Drew told the Canadian Press. "It's just expensive to live. And until that gets dealt with, we're just going to keep losing public spaces and we're going to keep having nowhere to go for everyone, not just the unhoused."
Drew told CP that he initially didn't accept the offer to guest star, as he finds acting "very painful." However, he reconsidered upon learning the episode centred on Toronto's homelessness crisis.
A publicist for the show told CP the Season 2 premiere is loosely based on the 2022 stabbing death of homeless Toronto man Kenneth Lee, who was allegedly swarmed by a group of teenage girls.
Titled "White Squirrel City," the episode depicts the lives of those living in a Toronto homeless encampment, while also depicting nearby residents calling for its removal.
Drew appreciates that the episode highlights residents advocating for the encampment to stay, telling CP, "That's what I saw over COVID: a lot of neighbourhoods coming together to keep those encampments in their parks when so many were saying they've got to get out."
Asked by CP about future Law & Order Toronto episodes, Drew shared he'd choose to examine "real estate, veterinarians, all the things pushing people out of their wallets."
"Toronto's a shareholder's town, so my episode would deal with how we live for the shareholders and everyone's angry about it," he said. "We're getting pushed around by people that don't even live here."
Drew and his Broken Social Scene bandmates reflected on their early days in Toronto as part of new documentary It's All Gonna Break.