QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition NDP MPP Chris Glover (Spadina—Fort York) and GTA Issues critic Bhutila Karpoche (Parkdale—High Park) are demanding the Conservative government stand down as they move to quash Ontario Place for All’s judicial review of the redevelopment project.
“Ford’s Conservatives will stop at nothing to push through their luxury spa using $650 million of taxpayer dollars. This is not what Torontonians want or need on our waterfront,” said Karpoche. “Nobody except Ford and his insiders want to turn this precious public park into a luxury spa run by a private Austrian corporation. Standing in the way of fairness by changing the law will not hide the fact that this deal stinks. The Conservatives need to release the 95-year lease and come clean about what they have signed Ontarians up for.”
"The Conservatives rewrote the laws and stripped Ontarians of the right to hold the government accountable for this project,” Glover said. “They are using Bill 154 to prevent a grassroots coalition of citizens from ensuring this government is following Ontario's heritage and environmental laws. They have exempted themselves and their Ministers from acts of breach of contract and misfeasance. They must stop fighting Ontario Place for All’s request for an injunction.”
QUICK FACTS:
- In December, Ford’s Conservatives passed Bill 154, New Deal for Toronto Act, 2023, a bill that has nothing to do with Toronto’s new deal and everything to do with changing the rules to push through this luxury spa project at Ontario Place
- This legislation gives the Conservatives the ability to bypass various laws to fast-track the Ontario Place redevelopment, while denying legal due process or remedies for any damages
- This bill exempts the province’s plans for Ontario Place from:
- Environmental Assessment Act
- Ontario Heritage Act
- Environmental Bill of Rights
- It also prohibits lawsuits against the government with respect to anything done under this bill – including government misrepresentations, misconduct, misfeasance, bad faith, breach of trust or breach of fiduciary obligation
- Bill 154 also gives Minister Kinga Surma the ability to issue Ministerial Zoning Orders, a power currently limited to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Ontario NDP’s FOI requests have revealed troubling details about how this project came together, which can be found here
- Ontario NDP also revealed documents showing the Conservatives’ decision to close the Ontario Science Centre is based entirely on a report that the Conservatives cooked up to justify spending $650 million of public money on a private luxury spa at Ontario Place