Dozens of protesters braved a blustery morning in Toronto Saturday to rally against the planned closure of Ontario Place.
The provincial government wants to close parts of the waterfront park for at least five years to stem its financial losses. An advisory panel, led by former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory, has been assembled to decide how the once popular family attraction can be revitalized.
The province hopes to overhaul the site in time to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017.
Closing the park is expected to save the government $20 million a year. But many Torontonians are opposed to the idea and are calling on Queen's Park to preserve Ontario Place as a public space.
"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," NDP MPP Rosario Marchese told CP24.
Ontario Place opened in 1971 and once boasted 2.5 million visitors a year. But that number has dwindled to a low of 300,000.
If the park is closed this summer, 600 part-time and 48 full-time jobs will disappear.
Those who attended Saturday's rally, organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, warned that the park could be replaced by condominiums or a rumoured casino if the land is sold.
Meanwhile, a small group of protesters assembled at City Hall on Saturday, demanding that Mayor Rob Ford be fired over an ongoing public transit controversy.
Protesters said Ford should have been fired instead of TTC general manager Gary Webster, who was ousted this week at a controversial transit commissioners' meeting.
Ford's critics say the move was politically motivated because Webster did not support the mayor's subway extension scheme.
