Ontario Place court challenge quashed, clearing way for redevelopment to proceed
Global News
Ending the group’s court challenge removed one of the final barriers for the government to realize its controversial vision to redevelop Ontario Place.
A court has thrown out a legal challenge to the Ford government’s Ontario Place redevelopment plans, concluding it is “plain and obvious” that it has no chance of succeeding in the face of a new provincial law.
A decision released by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday quashed an attempt by the advocacy group Ontario Place for All to force the province to undertake detailed environmental studies before building a spa, concert venue and science centre on Toronto’s waterfront.
Ending the legal court challenge removed one of the final barriers for the government to realize and begin building its controversial vision to redevelop Ontario Place.
The province’s plans for Ontario Place centre around a private spa and waterpark operated by an Austrian company, Therme. Live Nation will also redevelop its Budweiser Stage music venue, while the Ontario Science Centre is set to be relocated to the site.
In its decision, a panel of three judges found the grassroots challenge had no chance of succeeding because of a law introduced by the government at the end of 2023 to exclude Ontario Place from environmental studies.
The Ford government introduced the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act in December 2023, a week after Ontario Place for All filed its legal challenge to the project. The law excluded redevelopment work from the Environmental Assessment Act and handed zoning powers to Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma.
After tabling the new law, the government then brought a motion to quash the group’s challenge.
“The question for the court is whether it is plain and obvious the application cannot succeed in the face of ROPA,” the decision said.
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