The province must affirm it's commitment to keeping Ontario Place as a public space, says a longtime NDP MPP.
Rosario Marchese made the comments during a "Save Ontario Place" rally Saturday morning.
The rally was organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and attended by about 30 people.
It was held to protest the government's decision to shut down the 39-hectare park for five years while former Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory prepares a report on what to do with the perpetual money loser.
Closing the park is expected to save the government $20 million a year.
"The premier has not rejected the privatization of these public lands and that suggests to me that he is interested in selling them. That is not something I support and that is not something I think the people of Ontario want," Marchese told CP24. "We have to keep Ontario Place as a public space for kids, families and individuals who come here to enjoy a piece of land that hasn't yet been taken over by condominiums."
Since it first opened in 1971 annual attendance at Ontario Place has fallen from 2.5 million to about 300,000.
Tory's report will bring forth ideas on how to make the complex a "must-visit" destination again with preliminary recommendations expected this Spring.
A casino has been rumoured as one of the ideas being looked at.
"We are closing it before we even get the report and that doesn't make any sense," Marchese said.
If the government sticks with its decision to keep the doors to Ontario Place shuttered this summer it will mean the loss of 600 part time jobs and 48 full times ones.
