Ontario Place challenge rejected

Court deals setback to group fighting province's redevelopment

- CALVI LEON, FRANCINE KOPUN AND EMILY FAGAN

An Ontario court has rejected a legal challenge by a citizens group fighting the development of a private spa at Ontario Place.

A panel of the Divisional Court ruled Tuesday that Ontario Place for All’s request that the Ford government conduct an environmental assessment of the West Island, where the spa is being built, “cannot succeed” due to new legislation.

The government introduced the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act in the legislature in November 2023, one week after Ontario Place for All (OP4A) applied for a judicial review of the decision to exempt the redevelopment of the West Island at Ontario Place from the Environmental Assessment Act. The new legislation received royal assent in December.

The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act exempts the West Island from the Environmental Assessment Act “and therefore nullifies the remedies sought in the application,” the court’s decision said.