Premier Doug Ford returned to defending his government's choice of Therme to redevelop much of Ontario Place, doubling down on its plans for Toronto's waterfront, a day after promising to "look into" the deal amid fresh controversy.
"We did" double- and triple-check the deal, Ford said at an unrelated press conference on Thursday.
"I'm very satisfied," he said. "We looked into it, and it was clear as day."
"We have no reason to believe there's been any wrongdoing. We're moving forward with this project. It's going to be world-class. It's going to be spectacular," he said
"And I promise you one thing: the same people that have been complaining are going to be the first people in line to experience just an incredible Ontario Place," he said.
A New York Times report on Wednesday detailed how Therme exaggerated its experience and financial stability during its pitch to redevelop Ontario Place. The controversy rests on another company called Therme, which operated other spas in Germany. The leaders of both Thermes struck up a friendship and shared staff, but operated as distinct companies.
The Ontario Place-winning Therme told the province it had "proven the success of its concept with six globally placed facilities under operation," despite only directly running one of those spas.
In a statement, the Therme Group that won the Ontario Place contract denied that it misrepresented itself, saying the two companies "have had a longstanding and formalized relationship."
Ford noted his government "accepted bids from a wide range of folks" for the Ontario Place redevelopment.
"Every single submission that came in, including this one, underwent a thorough evaluation, including a financial review from EY," he said.
Therme met the financial net worth test, he said.
"The auditor general confirmed this. You must have seen that if you looked at the auditor general's report," he said.
The auditor general also found “financial concerns” about Therme. Infrastructure Ontario found in 2022 that “Therme Group had low liquidity and it was not cash flow positive,” its equity value was under one million euros, and “the financial strength of the Therme Group appeared weak,” the auditor general wrote.
Ford did not answer a reporter's question on Thursday about how many spas he thought Therme ran, at the time of the company's pitch.
"I don't get involved in the bids directly," he said.
The auditor general found that a few premier's office staff met with many of the participants and were involved in key meetings during the selection process.
Also on Thursday, the Ford government introduced a bill aimed at cutting permitting and environmental oversight. In a technical briefing, ministry staff said the law will allow Ontario Place redevelopment projects to be exempt from public consultation. Normally, such projects would have to be posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario — this legislation would allow that step to be skipped.
"Well, we already went through environmental assessments," Ford said. "We've done every single study under the sun. We're moving forward with this."
Opposition leaders accused the premier of having been "duped" or "scammed" by Therme. They called on him to cancel the deal.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said the government has "embarrassed the province of Ontario on the international stage."
"Will you, through the course of the next few months, deny that you were aware, or were you duped? And in fact, if you were duped, that is grounds to cancel this project," she said, addressing Ford.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles called for another RCMP investigation.
"I mean, they've already got an investigation underway into the Greenbelt fiasco. This seems to us to merit another criminal investigation," she said.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner added that taxpayers are on the hook for $2.2 billion in redevelopment costs — the cost that the auditor general estimated the whole redevelopment, including building a new science centre, would be — to build "a foreign-owned mega-spa with a company that is almost financially insolvent."
