Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday that the province would take control of the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) from Toronto.
The announcement comes after a deal was made between the province and the city of Toronto in which the city promised to stop interfering with the Ontario Place Revitalization plan.
Ford said the deal will provide Toronto with up to $1.2 billion in operational support for the next three years.
Ford also said that uploading the Gardiner Expressway and the DVP would save the city $7.6 billion in capital relief.
“Anyone thinks that I want the DVP and the Gardiner, no I don’t. But that is our responsibility,” the premier said.
Under the deal, the city let the province take over responsibility for all of Ontario Place. The city claimed a small piece of the park. This arrangement allows the province’s redevelopment to continue.
Mayor Olivia Chow said the decision would save the city billions.
“By uploading the Gardiner and DVP, the city will be able to spend billions more on affordable housing, fixing transit and building communities,” Chow said. “This deal means that we can do more for people.”
Shelly Carroll, Toronto’s budget chief, said the deal will allow the city to “breathe a little.“
Chow was insistent on the “need [for] the federal government to step up and join us.”
“When all levels of government work together there is so much more we can do for the people of Toronto,” Chow said.
Toronto is facing a budget deficit of $1.5 billion which has to be balanced out by Feb. 1, when the city’s budget is expected to be released.
Norm Di Pasquale, the co-chair of Ontario Place For All, said he wonders why the premier is so determined to transform the park.
“I question why Ford continues to pursue such an unpopular project in the face of viable alternatives offered by the City of Toronto,” he said.
Chow was highly vocal about finding alternative solutions to building the Therme spa during her mayoral campaign.
Last June, Chow said she thought the plan was “headed in the wrong direction” and wanted to find common ground.
“The land belongs to the provincial government and we do not have the authority to stop the development,” the mayor said.
Ford had also made it clear that if the deal had not gone through, the party was ready to exploit the land from the city.
Emmy Egulu, a member of Ontario Place For All, said they will keep up with their demands.
“[We] demand that the government halt its demolition activities to ensure the environmental impact of this proposal can be fully understood,” Egulu said.