Injunction against Ford government development of Ontario Place to go before three-judge panel

A setback for the Ford government’s plans to go ahead with part of its redevelopment of Ontario Place.

The Ontario Divisional Court has denied the government’s request to quash an injunction by the advocacy group Ontario Place for All when it comes to building a private spa on the West Island of the lakefront attraction.

Ontario Place for All filed the injunction last November asking for a judicial review of the government’s decision to proceed with development without first completing an environmental assessment. The injunction also calls on the government to produce the agreement with Therme, the Austrian-based company that was given a 95-year lease to build the spa on the West Island.

The group also wants the government to stop the cutting of more than 800 trees and filling in portions of the island until an environmental assessment is completed.

In January, the Ford government filed a motion to stop the judicial review, claiming the redevelopment of Ontario Place is exempt from environmental assessment after passing the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act.

The arguments were heard on March 19 and in making her ruling on Wednesday, Justice Nancy Backhouse brushed off the government’s claims that Ontario Place for All’s concerns were “frivolous or unworthy of argument before a panel of the court.”

The injunction will now be heard before a full three-judge panel rather than just a single judge, ruled Backhouse.