Ontario auditor general to release reports on Ontario Place, opioids

TORONTO — Ontario’s auditor general is set to release her annual report today, with sections on the redevelopment of Ontario Place and on the province’s opioid strategy likely to garner a lot of attention.

This will be the first annual report from the province’s new auditor general, Shelley Spence, who was appointed around this time last year.

The report is set to contain nine value-for-money audits, along with a section looking at government advertising and followups on previous audits.

This year’s audits include Ontario Place redevelopment, implementation and oversight of Ontario’s opioid strategy, and the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

There are also two housing-related sections, looking at both Minister’s Zoning Orders and the Ontario Land Tribunal, as well as an audit of the Toronto District School Board.

The report is set to be rounded out by sections on digitization of government services by ServiceOntario, operations of the Environmental Bill of Rights, and procurement and delivery of selected infrastructure projects.

Premier Doug Ford’s government has already faced a lot of criticism over the redevelopment of Ontario Place, from the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre, to the awarding of contracts, to the destruction of trees there.

The government has a 95-year lease with European company Therme for a spa and waterpark it plans to build at the waterfront attraction, and it shows the province has promised 1,600 parking spaces for the private facility.

An auditor general report last year suggested Ontario’s obligations to provide parking for Therme factored into its decision to relocate the science centre from east Toronto to the redeveloped Ontario Place attraction.

The report said a government proposal on relocating the science centre suggested parking could be integrated with the building at Ontario Place “in order to dispel public/stakeholder concerns relating to cost and impact on the environment.”

Ontario Place, which first opened in 1971, was closed to the public in 2012 after years of financial losses.

On opioids, the Progressive Conservative government has taken a hard line on drug-consumption sites, passing legislation that prohibits and closes any sites that are within 200 metres of a school or daycare, and effectively prohibits any new sites from opening.

In their place, the government is launching 19 new “homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs,” plus 375 highly supportive housing units at a planned cost of $378 million.

Health workers, advocates and users of the sites have warned of a spike in deaths when the sites close by March 31, 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press