Auditor general slams Ontario Place redevelopment process as unfair, subjective

TORONTO — Ontario’s auditor general has found that the European company developing a spa and waterpark at Ontario Place got special access to provincial executives during a submission process the auditor says was not fair or transparent.

In the auditor general’s annual report today, she also says it will now cost more for the government to build a new Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place than it would have to maintain the site it abruptly closed earlier this year.

Auditor general Shelley Spence says in her audit of the Ontario Place redevelopment that some participants were invited to meet with government officials and high-ranking political staff during the call for development period, even though that was against the government’s own rules.

One of those participants was the ultimately successful bidder Therme, whose planned spa and waterpark has faced a lot of criticism — and Spence says a provincial infrastructure official communicated directly with them and other participants, and exchanged nine emails with Therme’s legal counsel about media interest.

Spence says that the government’s process for assessing all of the proposals was irregular and subjective.

She also found that the cost estimate for building and maintaining a new science centre at Ontario Place has increased by nearly $400 million from the government’s spring 2023 business case for relocating it, meaning it will cost approximately $1.4 billion — higher than the $1.3 billion estimate for maintaining the attraction at its east Toronto location.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press