A citizens' group is turning to the courts to try to trip up the Ontario Place spa project.
Ontario Place For All announced on Tuesday it has asked the Superior Court for an injunction that would stop the Ford government from making progress on the Toronto waterfront project until it completes an environmental assessment of the area.
In the meantime, the government would be barred from "destroying, cutting, damaging, or otherwise taking, directing, or enabling any action resulting in harm to any tree or trees located on Ontario Place’s West Island, and/or otherwise harming or interfering with the landscape of the West Island, or directing or permitting any other person to do so."
The application also asks the court to force the government to release the 95-year lease signed by Therme for the site, which it has refused to give details about.
"Ontario Place For All is committed to using all possible avenues to hold the provincial government accountable for their actions at Ontario Place, and ensuring that they follow the proper process which would involve public consultation on the West Island," the group's co-chair, Norm Di Pasquale, said at a press conference at Queen's Park on Tuesday.
The government has done an environmental assessment of the site — but it didn't take into account the creation of a mega-spa and waterpark. The project was exempted since it's a private project on government land.
Di Pasquale, who works with the provincial NDP's riding association in Spadina—Fort York, which encompasses Ontario Place, said that argument doesn't hold water.
"Make no mistake: this is a government-led project. From the development application, to the site servicing, to managing the public realm on the West Island for 95 years, the government is all over this project," he said.
Di Pasquale said his group is working with law firm Paliare Roland in a "mix" of pro-bono and paid advocacy.
In question period on Tuesday, the NDP spent some of its first few volleys on the topic.
The government is "so hell-bent on this private luxury spa that they’re ignoring municipal bylaws, claiming they don’t apply to them. The government is threatening to use provincial powers to expropriate city-owned land to ram their luxury spa project through. The government is trying to have it both ways," Leader Marit Stiles said.
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said the site is "deteriorating" and her government is bringing it back to life.
"This is not a place where people bring their families anymore," she said.
The Trillium reported in October that nearly 3 million people visited Ontario Place in 2022.
Other opposition leaders supported the court challenge.
"It shouldn’t take last-ditch legal action to keep Doug Ford from destroying the West Island at Ontario Place to build a luxury play-to-play megaspa," Green Leader Mike Schreiner said in a statement.
"I think people are genuinely concerned and they're going to take every avenue they can to slow this thing down. Because sometimes you have to do that, so we get it right," interim Liberal leader John Fraser said.
Therme declined to comment on the court filing but sent a study done by the company to assess "the environmental impact of proposed shoreline improvements on aquatic habitat and water quality."
Ontario Place was a provincially operated theme park until the previous Liberal government wound it down in 2012. It's still used as a space for outdoor activities. In July 2021, the Ford government announced plans to redevelop the site. Therme currently plans to build a 65,000-square-metre spa and indoor water park.
The redevelopment project has been controversial from the beginning. It would require cutting down 850 trees and building a taxpayer-funded parking garage, the cost of which has been pegged between $300 and $600 million.
On Monday, prominent architect Walter Kehm stepped away from the project, citing concerns with the government's planned tree-clearing.
Ontario's auditor general is currently conducting a value-for-money audit of the project.
Ottawa could end up doing its own environmental assessment, delaying things further. Ontario Place For All wrote to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in September to ask for one. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is still studying that request.
Ontario went to court last month to challenge the feds' impact assessment law. That decision could render Ottawa's involvement in Ontario Place moot.
Di Pasquale wore the challenge as a badge of honour.
"So it seems like some of the things that we are doing, to try to get the project back on track and have the government follow their own rules, are working," he said.
If all else fails, there's always the pressure campaign, Di Pasquale said.
"There's always more steps," he said. "We need people to talk to their elected Ontario representatives and tell them what a special place this is and how it's worth preserving, how it's worth making into a 21st-century public space. People power is the most important power here."
