Now-Premier Doug Ford inserted himself into the city’s plans to place a temporary homeless shelter in Etobicoke, making calls to both the mayor and local councillor, the Star has learned.Ford, a week after he was declared premier-designate in an election last month and just weeks before he was sworn in, called Mayor John Tory and Councillor John Campbell to express concerns about the city’s plans to place one of four prefabricated structures at a site just north of Eglinton Ave. W. near Royal York Rd. The city is now no longer pursuing that location. City staff and Tory’s office say the site was ruled out after staff did further due diligence and discovered there was no convenient sewer hookup, making the site “effectively unusable.”But the Star has learned that a planned, city-led consultation with local residents about the Eglinton and Royal York site was imminent, with a location for an open house being worked out and flyers being prepared when the calls came from Ford.“I was willing to help out with the homeless situation if necessary and if needed and I think that the community would have come to understand the importance of doing so,” Campbell told the Star this week. He confirmed Ford called him on June 15 and that the call lasted five minutes.“He called to get clarity on the situation. He was reflecting concerns that had been relayed to him.” Ford, he said, was no advocate for the temporary shelter space. Tory’s spokesperson Don Peat raised the sewer issue when asked about the call from Ford.“I can confirm the mayor and the premier did discuss this site. The premier was looking for information and the mayor provided it,” he wrote in an email to the Star.The all-weather structures, purchased by the city for $2.5 million each, are meant to help address the ongoing capacity crisis in the city’s existing shelter system, which is consistently around 95 per cent full even outside win ...
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