Opposition parties promise to cancel Ontario Place lease, even with high costs

Ontario’s three opposition parties have vowed to rip up the Ford government’s Ontario Place deal — a move that would involve paying the private spa giant Therme millions of dollars — if they win the next provincial election.

Last week, the government finally published its lease agreement with Therme, laying out the terms that will allow the company to build and operate a waterpark and spa on Toronto’s waterfront for the next 95 years.

The lease revealed Ontario had committed to providing thousands of parking places in time for the spa to open — or face a daily penalty, while Therme is expected to pay just under $2 billion in rent and maintenance over the course of the lease.

The agreement also showed that the province could cancel its deal with Therme for $30 million before the company took over the land from the government.

Once Therme is in control of the waterfront land, any government would only be able to cancel the lease 10 years into Therme’s operations and with five years’ notice. Even then, the government would have to try and find Therme an alternative site, demolish the Ontario Place facility at its own cost and pay Therme one year of its earnings.

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Despite the high cost of cutting Therme loose, the Ontario Liberals, NDP and Greens all say that’s what they would do if any of them form government.

The Ontario NDP confirmed to Global News it would cancel the agreement with Therme if it, adding: “Doug Ford has negotiated a great deal for Therme, and a terrible deal for the people of Ontario. An Ontario NDP government will make sure the Ontario Place redevelopment is in the public interest, and invest in hospitals, schools and roads instead of Ford’s luxury spa.”

A spokesperson for the Ontario Liberals called the deal a “mega scam” and said that, if they were to win the next election, they would both investigate and cancel the plan.

“(It is a) bad deal that was only ever signed to give a big payoff to Doug Ford’s friends,” they said. “We would do our due diligence but as Premier, Bonnie Crombie would do anything possible to kill this sketchy deal and do better for Ontario.”

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he would try to cancel the deal before construction begins. It is not yet clear when that would be but Therme officials said last week they wanted to start as soon as the site is ready.

“Ontario Greens would cancel the contract with Therme prior to initial site construction,” Schreiner said in a statement to Global News.

“Ford’s deal is all about helping Therme and not about helping Ontarians, and we need to get out of it before hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been funnelled down the drain.”

The Ford government, on the other hand, stood squarely behind its deal when it revealed the terms of the lease.

“Our government is proud to have Therme Canada as a development partner on this once‐in‐a‐generation project,” Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, said in a statement last Thursday.

“Therme Canada will deliver family-friendly entertainment and recreational activities at Ontario Place. Once complete, Ontario Place will have more than 50 acres of free public parks, beaches and greenspaces, in addition to Therme Canada’s wellness services and waterpark.”

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