By Staff
April 17th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Marit Stiles: “:Cancel the deal”
Marit Stiles tells the Legislature that a “bombshell New York Times investigation revealed that Ontario taxpayer dollars are going into the pockets of a company that misrepresented itself to get a 95-year lease from the Ford government for Ontario Place.
After two years of evidence and reports pushed by Marit Stiles and the Official Opposition NDP, along with community leaders, Premier Ford said that he needs to take a second look at this multi-billion-dollar mega-spa deal.
“Why are we handing over $2.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to a broke Austrian company to build a luxury spa in downtown Toronto that no one asked for? , said Stiles
“The latest investigation from the New York Times confirms what we have been saying all along – Premier Ford and Minister Surma got scammed, and Ontarians are going to be stuck paying for it for the next 95 years.
“Cancel the deal and let’s focus on strengthening Ontario.”
The man made island was cleared of the 800 trees on the site for construction that is scheduled for next spring. Photo Credit:Ian Willms for The New York Times
Doug Ford said he had asked his government to look into the contract that granted a 95-year lease to a European wellness company after a New York Times investigation into the deal.
West Island has been cleared of trees for development by a European spa company.
Reporting from Toronto New York Times reporter Matina Stevis-Gridneff wrote:
“The premier of Ontario on Wednesday said that he had asked his government to look into a deal that the province signed with a European wellness company to develop and operate a spa and water park off Toronto’s coveted waterfront.
“Premier Doug Ford’s request that the lease be re-examined came after a New York Times investigation found that the company, Therme, had overstated its experience during the bidding process.
“After the years-long process, the province signed a nearly century-long lease last year with the Austrian-based company to develop an artificial island in Lake Ontario.”
“I went directly to the minister and to the deputy and said, ‘Here, look into this’,”
“When I heard this, this allegation, I went directly to the minister and to the deputy and said, ‘Here, look into this’,” Mr. Ford told the news media in Toronto on Wednesday.
“I just want to double- and triple-check the contract,” Mr. Ford said. “We’ll look into it, make sure everything passes a smell test.”
In written comments to The Times, a spokesman for Therme said that these issues had already been investigated and that the company had met the requirements of the process and passed the necessary tests.
“We respect Premier Ford’s desire to double- and triple-check, and we fully support efforts to reaffirm the integrity of the process,” he added. “Our commitment to this project remains steadfast.”
During the bidding process, the company owned and operated only one wellness facility, in Romania, outside Bucharest. But the Times investigation found that it had claimed to be running four to six facilities in Europe in its submissions to the Ontario government.
The misstatement of Therme’s actual experience was first raised in an in-depth audit of the deal by Ontario’s auditor general that was released late last year.
The Times investigation found that the company had, over the course of several years, presented itself as one and the same as a bigger, older, well-known German firm by the same name that does operate several water parks.
The two companies both told The Times that they had a “knowledge-sharing agreement.”
A representative for Therme said that its wording could have been more precise, and that references to its success in Germany were meant to communicate that the plan’s concept had been successful.
Therme’s statements about its experience weighed significantly in Ontario’s decision to grant it the Toronto lease, The Times investigation found. Therme bought one of the German spas late last year.
“I understand they’re all one company, so one bought the other company,” Mr. Ford said on Wednesday. “So I guess they’re a larger, stronger company, but they’re going to look into this allegation.”
Therme did not buy the German Therme, they are not one company, and the acquisition of the single German spa happened well after it submitted its bid to the Ontario government and won the lease.
One of several architectural renderings for the development. Financing for the project has not yet secured.
The project on Toronto’s high-value waterfront has been an ongoing saga for the Ford government, which has faced resistance from local residents who wanted to preserve the space as a public park.
In October, the province cut down more than 800 trees on the land to prepare it for handing over to Therme. Therme is contractually obligated to begin construction by next spring; it has not yet secured outside financing for the project.
The development has been long criticized by Ontario opposition parties. Marit Stiles, the opposition leader in the Ontario legislature, called for the agreement to be canceled.
“I think it’s better to get this over with now and cancel the deal, and we’ve been saying that since Day 1,” Ms. Stiles said on Wednesday. She added: “Look, Ontario never asked for this. That land was being put to good public use.”
Mr. Ford said canceling the contract was not on the table. “This is going to be something spectacular at the end of the day,” he said. “It’ll be the No. 1 tourist attraction, I say in the country, next to Niagara Falls.”
Matina Stevis-Gridneff is the Canada bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the country.
Best to get all the facts in rather than act like that NDP shrew.
Very interesting. Add it to the Green Belt file. As an aside, where is The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star reporters.. Do we need to subscribe to the New York times to get local news?