Ford government's decision to move Ontario Science Centre based on 'incomplete' info, AG finds

The Ford government made its decision to move the Ontario Science Centre to Toronto's waterfront with "preliminary and incomplete cost information" and failed to consult key stakeholders, the province's acting auditor general said Wednesday.

In his office's annual report that includes 12 value-for-money audits on a wide range of topics, Nick Stavropoulos found that a proposal earlier this year to government decision makers about relocating the centre to the grounds of a redeveloped Ontario Place also cited parking needs for a privately-owned water park and spa planned for the site.

The province has not disclosed details of the long-term lease with Therme for the highly criticized planned facility, but the auditor's report said a "site-wide parking solution" was needed to meet Ontario's lease obligations with the Austria-based company.

The report said the April submission to government on relocating the science centre proposed that new parking be integrated with the building "in order to dispel public/stakeholder concerns relating to cost and impact on the environment."

Premier Doug Ford agreed in a deal with the City of Toronto to consider moving the parking to nearby Exhibition Place.

Meanwhile, Stavropoulos noted that both the Ontario Science Centre and Science North, another provincially-funded facility in Sudbury, are struggling with financial sustainability and declining attendance.

He added that the province has been considering moving the Ontario Science Centre to the grounds of Ontario Place since 2016, two years before Ford and his government were elected. But Stavropoulos said the choice this year to go ahead with the relocation process was made without a complete list of costs to sufficiently compare it with the alternate option of keeping the facility at its current location in northeast Toronto.

The audit also found there was little consultation with stakeholders like the centre's landowners, including the City of Toronto, and large schools boards within the Greater Toronto Area that would be affected by the move.

Last week, Infrastructure Ontario released its business case for the move, which claims building a new Science Centre rather than renovating the existing building would save taxpayers $257 million over 50 years. But Stavropoulos found it was missing key information.

He says incremental parking costs were not included, nor were financing, transaction and legal costs for a new science centre, nor similar costs for the repairs and upgrade of the current facility.

"The province's science centres (including Science North in Sudbury) are both facing their own challenges," Stavropoulos wrote in a statement.

"But decisionmakers were not fully informed when planning for the future of the Ontario Science Centre — this is critically important for all decisions going forward."

Premier Doug Ford announced in April that the Ontario Science Centre would be relocated to the redeveloped Ontario Place grounds. (Heather Waldron/CBC)

A likely increase in tourists attending the science centre at Ontario Place was included in the April proposal to government, the auditor said, but a likely negative impact on attendance from residents and school groups was not included.

The current science centre building is facing $369 million in deferred and critical maintenance needs over the next 20 years, the business case said. A building condition report in April 2022 found "multiple critical deficiencies" in roof, wall, mechanical, electrical and elevator systems, interior finishes, site features, and fire and life safety equipment.

A lack of government funding is a key cause of that, the auditor said.

There have been 42 projects deemed "critical" since 2017 that haven't been repaired, and of those projects, the science centre had asked for funding for seven of them at least three times in the past five years but was denied each time, the auditor wrote.

Government officials have often said that even though the new proposed science centre building will be about half the size of the current one, it will use space more efficiently and have more exhibition space.

The auditor said the new building would actually have about 18 per cent less space for exhibits.

Health care core theme of AG report

One-third of the audits included in the report released Wednesday were related to the province's troubled health-care sector.

Those audits include:

• "Triage, assessment and delivery of care" in hospital emergency rooms around the province.

• Access to timely care in northern Ontario hospitals.

• The role and mandate of Public Health Ontario.

• The quality of care and services provided to long-term care residents.

The auditor also looked into the financial operations of York University, the two provincially owned convention centres in Toronto and Ottawa, and the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), which regulates travel agencies and the retail side of airlines.