Ontario’s municipal affairs minister insists the Ford government has been prudent about its investments, despite an auditor general’s report which criticized the province’s attempt to resurrect Ontario Place and the recently-shuttered Ontario Science Centre.
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Speaking to media Tuesday afternoon, Paul Calandra said he didn’t agree with conclusions that relocating the Science Centre from North York to Ontario Place would end up costing more than simply rehabilitating the facility.
“What’s been reported today by the auditor general is that we continue to work with the ministry infrastructure on the costs of a new Science Centre down at Ontario Place,” he said.
“I think it’s worth remembering what we’re doing by doing that — we’re creating a new, state-of-the-art, bespoke built-for-purpose Ontario Science Centre that going to last for several generations.”
In her report Tuesday morning, Auditor General Shelley Spence said costs for redeveloping Ontario Place site ballooned by $1.8 billion, while putting a $1.4 billion price tag on relocating the Science Centre — more than the estimated $1.3-billion repair costs to fix the existing structure.
“Those costs are not yet finalized,” Calandra said.
“The figures that were in the auditor general’s report are preliminary — we continue to work with both the Science Centre and the Ministry of Infrastructure to figure out what those final costs are going to be, but I would simply stress that as we said at a press conference almost a year ago, the costs associated with rehabilitating and remediating the existing facility at 770 Don Mills Rd. have continued to increase as well.”
The increased costs are consistent with inflation and as more discoveries are made on the poor state of the half-century old building, he said.
Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney said the government will review the reports.
“Building on their recommendations, we will further our efforts to ensure that our government delivers the best value for money possible, through prudent fiscal management,” she said.
“By doing so, we will not only be addressing current needs, but laying a strong fiscal foundation for future generations.”
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TDSB makes progress on recommnedations
In response to a number issues identified within the Toronto District School Board, TDSB interim-director Stacey Zucker thanked the AG for the review.
“While there is always more work to do, we have been actively working on many of the recommendations and have already made noteworthy progress,” she said in a statement to the Toronto Sun.
Among the issues identified by the report were a 67% spike in violent incidents at TDSB schools since the 2017/18 school year, infrastructure rated among the worst of any Ontario school board, and gaps in background checks for staff and contractors.
Steps being taken by the school board includes collaboration with both the City of Toronto and Toronto Police on addressing community violence trends impacting TDSB schools, reviewing processes for staff and contractor background checks, improving procedures for emergency drills, and implementing a newly-launched capital revitalization strategy to address infrastructure challenges and aging buildings.
“We are confident that, with the support of the Ministry of Education and other partners, we can address the challenges outlined in this report and continue to meet the needs of our students, staff, and communities,” the statement added.