A Statement from Ontario’s Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles
Posted January 17th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
Ontario Place, along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Toronto was once viewed by millions of visitors to it as a “peoples’ place”. Now, thanks to Ford and his masters in the development industry, pieces of it are being turned into a parking lot, a private spa, at a huge cost to Ontario taxpayers.
QUEEN’S PARK — Marit Stiles, Leader of the Ontario NDP, released the following statement in response to the Integrity Commissioner’s report on Ford’s Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma:
“Ontario taxpayers are subsidizing this Made-in-Austria mega spa to (at the Ontario Place site in Toronto) to the tune of $2 billion, and for what? Families from Windsor to Wawa are paying $400 per household for a Toronto luxury destination that’s hours away and out of reach. That’s not putting Ontario first.”
“In December, the Auditor General’s damning report told us that this deal lacked transparency and cost billions more than Ontarians were told. The cost overruns alone are reason enough for Ford’s hand-picked Minister of Infrastructure to resign.
“There are so many lingering questions about how this deal came together, and Minister Surma has repeatedly refused to provide answers.”
Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles
“The Integrity Commissioner’s scope is narrow, and we know that we need stricter rules to hold elected officials accountable. We will use every tool possible to shine a light on this deal, because something smells wrong. Ontarians deserve to know the truth about this project.”
“Ontarians deserve a government that shares their priorities – one that hires doctors, builds home, and makes life affordable. They deserve a government that isn’t constantly under investigation for shady deals, a Premier that doesn’t hide their phone records. New Democrats don’t need to hide, because we’re always working for you.”
Background:
- * The Auditor General’s report detailed extraordinary mismanagement by Ford’s top Ministers, with the project 5-times overbudget for a total cost of more than $2 billion of your taxpayer dollars, with a total costs ballooning from $424 million to $2.2 billion.
- * It’s time for the Premier to face the consequences of his government’s corruption – and start by firing the Minister of Infrastructure for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a rigged vanity project and getting nothing done for the people of Ontario.
- * The government is giving Therme a publicly-funded parking facility after warning other bidders it would not consider proposals requiring publicly-funded facilities
- * Less than a week before the original bid submission deadline, after several bids had already been received, the deadline was extended by three weeks, giving Therme more time to prepare its bid
- * No Fairness Monitor was assigned to the Ontario Place Call For Development, as is standard for Infrastructure Ontario’s other large procurement processes
- * A “Process Participation Form” given to bidders reveals unusual terms for the Call For Development, including the government’s power to arbitrarily award the development to a party that had not met process criteria or even submitted a bid
- * A Therme lobbyist improperly contacted a member of the government’s bid evaluation team while the bid evaluation was underway, breaking confidentiality rules
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