A new community group, Ontario Place For All, was recently established to campaign for a publicly accessible future for Ontario Place. The founding meeting of the group took place at Toronto’s Metro Hall, with over 150 concerned citizens present to discuss the Ontario government’s intention to redevelop Ontario Place.

The group is demanding that the lakefront park continue to be a publicly-accessible waterfront space. It also requests that any changes to the park follow a thoughtful and comprehensive consultation process.

The meeting was sponsored by two community groups, Waterfront For All and Park People.

“Ontario Place is a vital green connection to Toronto’s waterfront,” said David Harvey, the executive-director of Park People, in a press release. “There was great excitement and energy at today’s rally with ideas and support for making Ontario Place the kind of great park we all want.”

A number of politicians for the area were present at the meeting to voice their support for the group, including Toronto Councillor Joe Cressy, MPP Chris Glover and federal MP Adam Vaughan.

According to Adam Vaughan, MP for Spadina-Fort York, access to water is a right for Ontarians. “It’s a human right. Toronto has one lake and Ontario Place is where we must act to protect water for everyone in this province.”