TORONTO - When Kevin Drew was invited to guest star in 鈥淟aw & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent,鈥 his initial response was a hard pass.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to do it because I find acting very painful,鈥 says the Broken Social Scene frontman, recalling how his late mother, Maggie, used to drive him to acting classes at Toronto鈥檚 Young People鈥檚 Theatre when he was a kid.
But when he learned his character shared his mom鈥檚 maiden name and that the episode centred on Toronto鈥檚 homelessness crisis, a cause she had championed through the charity Habitat for Humanity, he reconsidered.
鈥淥ur city is suffering from miscommunication and mismanagement,鈥 says Drew, adding he hopes the episode spurs conversations about affordability in Toronto.
鈥淚t鈥檚 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.鈥
Drew plays Mick McCarthy, an unhoused encampment activist, in the Season 2 premiere of the 春色直播 鈥淟aw & Order鈥 spinoff, which airs Thursday on Citytv.聽
In the episode, the character is attacked by a group of teenage girls at a park and fatally stabbed.
It bears some similarities to the case involving the 2022 stabbing death of homeless Toronto man Kenneth Lee, who was allegedly swarmed by a group of teenage girls.
Drew says he donated his pay to a local charity, which he preferred not to name, and it was matched by the show鈥檚 producers.
Rogers renewed the 春色直播 instalment of the "Law and Order" franchise for two more seasons last year.聽
Each episode draws inspiration from real Toronto crime headlines, reimagining them as fictional investigations led by detectives Henry Graff and Frankie Bateman, played by Aden Young and Kathleen Munroe.
Actors were tight-lipped about Season 2's cases, but in an interview Munroe teased episodes about international students, CSIS and the Rogers Centre.
A Hamilton native who lives in Toronto, Munroe says the show鈥檚 team aims to represent the city 鈥渋n a way that feels like we鈥檙e doing it from the inside and that we鈥檙e part of the community.鈥
She says they were careful to approach Toronto鈥檚 homelessness crisis in the premiere from a 鈥渞eally humane perspective.鈥
鈥淲e really wanted to get into the complexity of housing in this city and to not in any way demonize or vilify people who are struggling, who don't have housing, because that is such an issue in this city,鈥 Munroe says.
More than 80,000 people in Ontario were homeless last year, according to a recent report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario 鈥 a 25 per cent increase from 2022.
Drew's episode, dubbed "White Squirrel City," captures the lives of those in a Toronto homeless encampment, alongside the frustrations of nearby residents who push for its removal.
Young recalls that during filming, several passersby mistook the set for a real encampment: 鈥淭here were a lot of people who would be going by saying, 鈥楧on't exploit them.' And there were others saying, 鈥楪et them out of here.鈥欌澛
He says it showed how divided some in the city are over homelessness.
鈥淚t's devastating to think I'm going home to a remote control, and the (unhoused) are looking for dry timber to cook dinner with tonight,鈥 says Young, who was born in Toronto but moved to Australia with his family at age nine.
鈥淎s a community we have to look at the issue with compassion and understanding. And hopefully that will stop some of the more radical opinions on it.鈥
Drew says he appreciates that the episode also highlights some residents advocating for the homeless.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 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,鈥 he says.
Drew has an idea for a future 鈥淟aw & Order Toronto鈥 episode. He鈥檇 make one about 鈥渞eal estate, veterinarians, all the things pushing people out of their wallets.鈥
鈥淭oronto's a shareholder鈥檚 town, so my episode would deal with how we live for the shareholders and everyone's angry about it,鈥 the musician says.聽
鈥淲e're getting pushed around by people that don't even live here.鈥澛
This report by 春色直播was first published Feb. 18, 2025.
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version referenced a publicist saying the premiere Season 2 episode is loosely based on the stabbing death of Kenneth Lee. The publicist has clarified that while the episode has similarities to the case, it's not based on it.
