A Former Ontario Lawmaker's Year in a Shelter

Lorenzo Berardinetti spent about 30 years in politics in Toronto's east end. He was a city councillor in Scarborough before amalgamation, then on Toronto city council, and served 15 years as a Liberal member of the Ontario legislature for Scarborough Southwest. He is also a lawyer by training. He lost his seat in the 2018 provincial election.

CBC News described how his finances unravelled afterwards. Ontario members of the legislature receive no pension, so he used his City Hall pension to pay down his mortgage and then relied on savings. Nearing 60, he found it harder to get work. A divorce in 2019 drew further on his retirement savings. In 2021 he had a brain seizure and spent about a month in a coma. In 2022 he ran in the Toronto municipal election and lost. He then sold his car, ran out of money and left his rented home.

He stayed briefly with his brother in Ajax, Ontario, and then moved into a shelter there; reports differ on whether that was in August or November 2023. By the time of the CBC report in 2024 he had been without a home for more than a year. He recalled asking himself on his first night what he was doing there, and said he was struck by how many people in the shelter had professional backgrounds.

After the Toronto Star reported his situation, a former staffer, Justin Van Dette, started a GoFundMe with his permission. Donors included former mayor John Tory, former premiers Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty, and politicians from several parties; the campaign raised over $35,000. About $25,000 is set aside to rehouse him, and the rest goes to a trust for other former politicians in difficulty.

His doctor has cleared him to work. He spends his days at a library working to renew his law licence, set up a practice and write a book, and he plans to meet a real estate agent. He called the experience very humbling, and said compassion is not owned by one party.