Ford government said Ontario Place consultations would cover a 'site-wide environmental assessment'
“Virtual public information sessions will also be held in the fall with planning and development consultations related to the site-wide environmental assessment, heritage, and site servicing to follow later in the year.”
Ontario government news release, · Ontario Newsroom release announcing redevelopment
What happened · Dec 6, 2023
An environmental assessment was done for the public park but not for Therme's West Island lease area, and Bill 154 then exempted the redevelopment from the Environmental Assessment Act and the Ontario Heritage Act.
The province ran a Category C Public Work Class environmental assessment for the free public park. It concluded in November 2023 but left out the West Island, which the government treated as a private project. On November 27, 2023 the government tabled Bill 154, the New Deal for Toronto Act, 2023. Its Schedule 2, the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, 2023, exempts the redevelopment (with certain exceptions) from the Environmental Assessment Act, disapplies the Ontario Heritage Act on scheduled lands and amends the Environmental Bill of Rights. The bill received Royal Assent on December 6, 2023. In a 2024 Divisional Court decision (2024 ONSC 3327), Ontario Place for All's judicial review seeking a site-wide assessment that included the West Island was quashed because the new Act made it plain and obvious the application could not succeed.
- Ontario Place Sewage: Ford Reroutes Raw Sewage Into Lake Ontario
- Ontario Place / Therme Spa
- Bill 154 (2022–24)
Promise: Ontario Newsroom
Outcome: Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Ontario e-Laws, Global News, Law Times, Government of Ontario