Toronto should welcome the new Ontario Place

Sometimes Toronto doesn’t know a good thing when it sees it. Consider the plan to redevelop Ontario Place, the big island playground down by the lake. Furious opposition has followed the project from the start. Critics say the provincial government is handing a priceless public asset to a private company so it can build a luxury spa.

That is a gross caricature of the plan, which includes not just the spa and accompanying waterpark but also a better concert venue, a new Ontario Science Centre, a revived marina and acres of trails, beaches and open space that everyone will be able to use for free.