Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
Ford was responding to the news that the Ontario Place Protectors coalition will have its arguments heard by the Supreme Court of Canada
After earlier setbacks in filing legal opposition to Premier Doug Ford’s plans to overhaul Ontario Place, a coalition of concerned citizens will have its arguments heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, likely this year.
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According to the Canadian Press, the Ontario Place Protectors will challenge the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act by arguing that it violates the constitution. Exemptions from heritage and environmental laws as well as municipal noise by-laws are a breach of public trust, says the coalition, whose website argues that the act allows the government to ignore the Environmental Assessment Act and the Ontario Heritage Act, among other regulations. The group is arguing that the act shields the government from legal scrutiny. An Ontario judge initially dismissed the group’s application, and a challenge filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.
CP reported that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case but has not yet provided a timeline for the hearing.
Seemingly undaunted, Ford blamed the widespread public backlash on pesky progressives. “I think it’s a bunch of crazy lefties that want to protect one tree or two trees or three birds,” he said at an unrelated news conference. “These same people, mark my words, are going to be lined up to go through Ontario Place.”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
