Instead of helping Ontarians with the affordability crisis, Conservatives put them on the hook for a luxury spa

QUEEN’S PARK – The Auditor General’s report today confirmed the Ontario NDP's suspicions around the shady Ontario Place deal between the Conservatives and private Austrian company, Therme.

The Auditor General's investigation found that the Conservatives signed a secret contract promising Therme publicly funded “dedicated parking spaces” adjacent to the private luxury spa planned for Ontario Place. If this parking lot is not built, then Ontario taxpayers face a “financial penalty”.

“The Auditor General has confirmed what we’ve been suspicious of all along,” said Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP. “This government showed preferential treatment to a private Austrian conglomerate and pulled out all the stops to build Ford’s private luxury spa.”

A few weeks earlier, Marit Stiles and her Official Opposition NDP team revealed documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request from Infrastructure Ontario which showed that the government had plans to build a parking garage for the private luxury spa at Ontario Place nearly two years before the garage was known to the public.

“This deal just keeps getting shadier. We’ve been demanding answers, transparency and accountability the entire time,” said NDP MPP Chris Glover (Spadina—Fort York), who represents the riding where Ontario Place is located. “Ford hasn’t told us how much this ridiculous project is costing taxpayers, and now he’s putting Ontarians crumbling under a cost-of-living crisis on the hook for financial penalties. This is a complete failure of leadership.”

“Ontarians are frustrated by a worsening affordability crisis. They’re worried about how they’ll feed their families or make their rent. And instead of helping them, the Conservatives are putting them on the hook for a taxpayer-subsidized private luxury spa,” said Stiles. “Release the lease, Mr. Ford.”