Rally at Ontario Place urging government to keep lands public

Premier Doug Ford and his conservative government were facing loud and growing opposition to some of their land development plans. Hundreds of people held a rally at Ontario Place on Monday to tell the government to keep public lands public.

A campaign is growing to protect the lakefront park from Doug Ford’s provincial government. Norm Di Pasquale from Ontario Place For All says, “We need every person in Ontario standing up to say ‘this is our place’, not Doug Ford’s place and not an Austrian spa’s place, this is Ontario’s place.”

READ MORE: TRCA says province did not consult on Ontario Science Centre move to Ontario Place

Premier Ford announced plans this spring to revitalize Ontario Place by building a scaled-down version of the Ontario Science Centre on the site. Along with a contract for the Austrian Therme Group to build what critics call a 13-storey pay-to-play mega spa at Ontario Place with what they say is up to $650 million of government support.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says, “We’re calling for the cancellation of this outrageous contract with Therme. I mean it’s bad enough that Ford is proposing us to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize a parking lot for a private corporation but it is completely outrageous and disgusting that he has signed a 95-year lease with a private company to give them access to public land.”

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles was at the rally and says, “We’re here because we’re going to stand up and make sure that this land is protected for all future generations.”

Before the Ontario Place controversy erupted, the Ford government was already facing widespread opposition to opening the Greenbelt for housing development, despite its promise to protect the Greenbelt.

“The Ford conservatives think that Ontario is their personal playground, that our treasury is their purse, is their piggy bank,” Stiles said.

READ MORE: Ontario Science Centre to move to Ontario Place in Toronto

Burlington singer and environmental activist Sarah Harmer says Premier Ford’s got it all wrong, “he doesn’t understand his role as the premier is to look after the public good, not just the private interests.”

Ford’s opponents say the fight over public land like Ontario Place is a fight for the heart and soul of Ontario. They say these lands have to be protected for future generations.