Legal challenge to Therme project at Ontario Place rejected
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has dismissed yet another legal challenge against the plans for the Therme project, a C$350 million water park and wellbeing resort located at Ontario Place in Toronto.
On 26 July, the court rejected the lawsuit filed by the grassroots organisation Ontario Place Protectors (OPP), which was established in response to the provincial government’s proposals for Ontario Place.
The group’s primary concern revolves around the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, a new piece of legislation that exempts the area from undergoing an environmental assessment and overrides its status as a heritage site. Last month, the court also dismissed a request for an environmental assessment from the non-profit organisation Ontario Place for All.
In a statement, Ontario Place Protectors expressed their surprise and concern regarding the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision to uphold the legislation. OPP’s lawyer, Eric Gillespie, remarked, “The difficulty many people will likely have with this ruling is that the government could not possibly have gone further than eliminating all remedies under all Ontario statutes.”
He further stated, “People may not be aware of how far this legislation has gone and what it means for the future. The overarching issue is this: if you can essentially eliminate all laws for Ontario Place, there is now nothing preventing the government from doing this for anything, including new expressways, airports, eliminating the greenbelt, or any other government project.”
C$350m Water Park and Wellbeing Resort
Critics of the Therme project have raised alarms about its potential to devastate local wildlife habitats and vegetation, including the removal of 840 trees and the destruction of 36,000 square metres of aquatic habitats. Additionally, there are concerns that this development would privatise a public space.
Major issues surrounding the Therme project include the extensive scale of the water park, plans to fill in a section of Lake Ontario, and the implications of constructing an underground parking facility.
In other news, the opening of Therme Manchester, a new £250 million water park and wellbeing resort in the UK, has faced delays.
