In June, 2011, Mayor Ford’s office summoned the bureaucrat in charge of expropriation, Tim Park, to a meeting to explore whether the city could acquire 7,000 square feet of land so that Apollo could use it as parking space for 24 vehicles, the records show. The land sought is owned by Suncor Energy Inc., the oil and gas giant that owns a tank farm next to Apollo’s plant.
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When Mr. Cresswell learned that expropriation – a mechanism the city utilizes when it needs to force the sale of privately owned land – was being considered, he e-mailed Mr. Park. “Are you involved because somebody floated the idea of expropriating land from Suncor for additional parking? Sheesh,” he wrote on the morning of June 17, hours before the meeting.
In reply, Mr. Park said he reminded the mayor’s office that the city can only expropriate land for public use and not private interests, but to no avail. “Despite the fact that I explained we can only do that for municipal purposes. … I’ve still got to go up there and do the dog and pony show,” he wrote.
