Supreme Court of Canada to hear Ontario Place Appeal
The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal challenging the constitutionality of legislation that trampled heritage protections at Ontario Place. Ontario Place Protectors, representing a coalition of heritage, democracy and environmental organizations, including the National Trust for Canada, requested the appeal after being defeated in the lower courts. The trial date has not been set.
Ontario Place, Toronto, Ontario | Author Unknown, Licensed under CC BY-ND
The story began when the provincial government in Ontario passed the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act (2023) to facilitate the redevelopment of the signature waterfront location in Toronto as a private spa.
A considerable engineering feat, Ontario Place was considered a futuristic architectural marvel when it opened in 1971. It was designed by one of Canada’s most notable landscape architects, Michael Hough and Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) gold medalist, architect Eberhard Zeidler.
In 2013, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport recognized Ontario Place as a Provincial Heritage Property of Provincial Significance under the Ontario Heritage Act. In 2019, it was added to the City of Toronto Heritage Register. The National Trust for Canada and RAIC noted the exceptional, internationally influential design of Ontario Place when the organizations recognized it with the prestigious Prix du XXe siècle Award in 2017.
But storm clouds were brewing. In 2012, the National Trust included Ontario Place on its national Endangered Places List out of concern about the lack of heritage protection for the site as the provincial government launched a major redevelopment of the property. Ontario Place remains on that list today. Ontario Place was placed on “at risk” lists of sites of international significance by both the Cultural Landscape Foundation in 2019 and the World Monuments Fund in 2020.
The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act (2023), in section 10, explicitly overrides the application of the Ontario Heritage Act at Ontario Place. Not only does this put in jeopardy a site that has been described as one of the most important expressions of late twentieth century modernism in the province but it sets a shocking precedent for all other places protected under the Ontario Heritage Act. These changes remove the processes under the Act which allow communities to express their opinions, appeal decisions or otherwise participate in the protection of places which are significant to them.
The legal challenge to be heard by the Supreme Court includes two separate questions. Ontario Place Protectors has argued that exemptions from heritage, environmental and municipal noise regulations are a breach of public trust. This is one of the first cases where the notion of a public trust for heritage, which transcends legislation, will be tested. The case also argues that the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act is unconstitutional because it limits accountability in the courts.
Legal approaches similar to those used in the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act – overriding established protections for heritage and the environment – are now being used to advance other projects in Ontario and elsewhere in the country. The precedent established in Ontario, if unchallenged, could have devastating consequences for heritage places across the country.
More information about the case, including all the court filings and options to donate to the legal defence, is available on the Ontario Place Protectors website.
