I enjoyed myself at the Empire Club yesterday. We had close to 400 people attending in person and thousands of people viewing our government’s update on our P3 pipeline, which is $185 billion worth of investment. It was an important day for the Ministry of Infrastructure, and it was a really important day for Infrastructure Ontario, who helps us execute all of those contracts for the most complicated projects in the province. We’re talking transit, Yonge North; we’re talking hospital expansions, highway expansions.

But you’re right: We’ve have had a very successful fall session. We have a deal with the city of Toronto in terms of making sure we provide supports for operational funding for the TTC, to keep riders on the TTC safe, for more trains on the TTC, and of course, a brand new science centre at Ontario Place.

But when we’re talking about the work that has been done at Ontario Place from an environmental perspective, we’ve completed two environmental assessments, one class C. We’ve completed over 40 different studies, an arborist report, a heritage impact assessment, a stormwater report—all in compliance with the city of Toronto development application process.

I don’t know where to start. It was the NDP that’s been crying for months to make the business case public, and we have. And do you know what the business case says? That taxpayers will be saving $257 million over a 50-year span in today’s dollars, but $600 million over 50 years if you take into account inflation.

We are building a brand new science centre—one that will be modern; one with new exhibits, new technology, and one that will have 10,000 square feet more of exhibition space for the children to enjoy.

Now, I know what the NDP would like to do. They would like to just leave the building and let it continue to fall apart until they are forced to close it. What we would like to do, Mr. Speaker, is be responsible and provide a long-term solution. We want a science centre for the next 50 to 100 years, and we will have one at Ontario Place.

Thank you very much to the member for the question.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve had a successful number of weeks in this House. We landed a historic deal with the city of Toronto to provide more supports for the TTC, be it in operations or safety. We released the business case which clearly defined everything our government has been saying for the last year and a half about the fact that it will save $600 million of taxpayer money to move the science centre to Ontario Place. And now we’re presenting legislation so that we can get on with it and start construction at Ontario Place, so that we can bring it back to life and make it a place that families can enjoy once again.

As we submitted our development application to the city of Toronto, we also submitted 40 different studies that cover everything from air to wind to soil to stormwater—conservation plan, heritage impact assessment.

Mr. Speaker, government believes that we have done our due diligence and now it’s time to move on and bring Ontario Place and the science centre back to life.

What this bill also does, Mr. Speaker, is provide operational dollars to the TTC for the new transit lines that we are building. It also provides money for new trains. It also provides money so that people can be safe on the TTC when travelling to work.

We landed a historic deal and we’re also making extreme progress on Ontario Place so that we can once again enjoy the site after years of neglect.

What about fare and service integration to make it easier for transit riders to cross boundaries, saving them $1,600 a year? What about building more transit stations in the greater Toronto area? I would say we have had quite the productive session this fall session and we look forward to continuing on in the next two weeks.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this is all the opposition member cares about, but, Mr. Speaker, let me just remind the opposition member that we are legislators. It is our role to bring in new laws. It is our role to amend legislation before the House to make sure that we are addressing issues in our society.

We had a very competitive procurement in 2019. We had third-party evaluators involved in that process. Mr. Speaker, the Liberals led their own procurement back in 2016 and, let me guess, Therme was a successful proponent—actually, their top proponent, as it was for us as well.

But, Mr. Speaker, we are bringing Ontario Place back to life. What the opposition wants is: They want that island to continue to fall into disrepair. They want the island to continue to flood. They want the island not to be enjoyed by Ontarians and the 15 million people that live here, and that is just simply not acceptable to government.

Thank you to the member for the question.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if you know this, but in fact, legislators in this House have been talking about what to do with Ontario Place since the late 1980s. Since the late 1980s, legislators have been talking about what to do with declining attendance and what to do with the increasing subsidies at Ontario Place.

Mr. Speaker, we are at a point where we’ve submitted our development application to the city. We have done everything that is required by us, by law, and now we have to make a decision and move forward. This is a government that gets the job done, and we will bring Ontario Place back to life, finally.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I will never be afraid to present legislation in order to build infrastructure in the province of Ontario and finally, after over 30 years of debate in this House, get it done and bring Ontario Place back to life, a place that families can enjoy 365 days of the year.

Mr. Speaker, we legislators have been debating this issue since the late 1980s. It is time to get the job done and this legislation will help us do it.

I always look forward to an opportunity to speak about how we’re actually saving the science centre. The science centre, although a safe facility that continues to operate, is an old facility. What we’re trying to achieve here is build a new facility with more exhibition space that will be around for young people and Ontarians for the next 50 years. We’re very pleased that we’re bringing the science centre to Ontario Place, keeping it alive, and bringing Ontario Place alive as well.

Mr. Speaker, I’m actually very pleased to take this specific question.

I would like to reference an article from July 2, 2018, in the Globe and Mail, written by Jeff Gray:

“The previous Ontario government was in the final stages of selecting a private sector bidder to redevelop Ontario Place when it was forced to put the negotiations on hold....

“Sources said the top three submissions included one from Therme, a German spa-and-water park company which would have included a new beach.”

Thank you for asking me this question.

We will do something that they were not capable of doing—and that is bring Ontario Place back to life and make it a place that everyone can enjoy 365 days of the year.

The answer is absolutely not. We will be bringing Ontario Place back to life, because right now, it is an asset that is not enjoyed by 15 million Ontarians. We will not stop our work in building the 413 because we know how important it is for people to get to their families faster and reduce congestion.

We are investing $184 billion to build infrastructure that’s desperately needed in the province, and we will get it done.

I cannot believe that member is asking this question right now.

They closed the doors to Ontario Place. They left it to go into disrepair, to be in a state where it is constantly flooded and, at times, not safe for people.

We have presented a vision to the public—we were out last week. The Premier was answering questions this morning.

The Leader of the Opposition said very clearly, “standard commercial lease.”

Our partners, our tenants, are making serious investments to the site, building a brand new stage that will be enjoyed all year round, as opposed to just the summer period, a Therme water park and wellness facility, which will also have 12 acres of public realm space, and 43 acres of public realm space together, and contributing to the maintenance and upkeep of the site, which you failed to do.

Take responsibility for your actions.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, let me just take things back a bit. In 2019, we announced our vision for the site. We announced that we wanted to invest in the site to bring it back to life. In 2021, we went out to the public again and informed them of the tenants that we were negotiating with. Then, just last week, the Premier and I and the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport were out again to inform the public of the progress that we are making on the site.

But do you know what we’ve done? We have learned from the past mistakes of past governments. We will have tenants that are going to invest capital in the site to build a brand new, all-year-round stage. We will have Therme, which will build a wellness and sports rec facility and waterslides with 12 acres of public realm. Most importantly, we will have tenants that will actually be contributing to the annual maintenance and repairs of the site so that it doesn’t fall into disrepair, like under their watch.

What we are doing is making the site sustainable. We will have three wonderful tenants: Ontario Science Centre, Therme, and Live Nation. Live Nation and Therme will now be contributing to the site, to the maintenance repairs to keep the site clean, to keep the site beautiful. Why? Because we don’t want it to fall into disrepair—like it was under the watch of the Liberal government. We want this site to be open for years and years and generations to come so that families have a wonderful place that they can enjoy with their families.

Mr. Speaker, that is what we heard from the public through the annual consultation process that has been taking place for several years. People want access to the site, and they want to enjoy it with their families.

Do you know what’s not good enough, in our opinion? To leave this site in disrepair—to leave it the way it is. It is crumbling. It is eroding. I’m speaking about Ontario Place. It is flooded. It is not enjoyed by the general public.

Our government has been clear, since 2019, that we have a vision for this site and that we want to bring it back to life. We want it to be a place that families can enjoy 365 days a year, that families can enjoy throughout the whole, entire day. And we will have that with the science centre, with Therme, with Live Nation, with a 43-acre public realm space that will be accessible by the Ontario Line, accessible to the public through all modes of transit.

Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough—leaving the site to deteriorate. We will bring it back to life.

Our government is saving the science centre. We are giving it a new home at the Ontario Place redevelopment. It will be a new tenant there. It will be an attraction for families, for tourists, for everyone to enjoy.

The Premier was very clear this morning, when he was questioned by the media, that we will continue to work with the city of Toronto on both the Ontario Place redevelopment as well as the lands where the science centre sits, and we will do that.

I was correct. But what our government is doing is saving the science centre. We are going to get a brand new, modern home with new exhibits—a new home at Ontario Place, which will be redeveloped so that families can enjoy it.

I wonder what the member opposite was doing for years when they let Ontario Place and the science centre deteriorate—a lack of investment.

Mr. Speaker, we will invest in the science centre, and we will continue to invest in Ontario Place.

Mr. Speaker, those members over there have let Ontario Place deteriorate. It is flooded. It is eroding. It is not safe.

It is this government that is investing in the science centre and investing in Ontario Place to make it a wonderful place for families to enjoy for generations to come.

Interjections.

We made a commitment to build public transit in the city of Toronto—expanding the subway system by 50%. That is exactly what we are doing. We are bringing the transit system up to Thorncliffe Park, which I know will truly benefit the community, as it will others, as well.

We have a wonderful opportunity before us. We have a wonderful asset at the waterfront that is not being utilized, that is not enjoyed by the public. They closed the doors in 2012. We will open the doors and welcome families to come to Ontario Place.

We are following all of the processes before us. We are following everything that’s required of us by the Minister of the Environment through legislation that has been in the House, and we are following the city process with the development application of Ontario Place.

While I love the fact that the members opposite are talking about transit, we are the government that led the way in transit expansion. We will be connecting Ontario Place with public transit, with the subway line, so that people can have greater access to the site because, once again, we are bringing Ontario Place back to life so that everyone can enjoy this wonderful landmark at our waterfront.