The Ford government’s controversial decision to permanently close the Ontario Science Centre was made at least one week before employees and the public were informed, Global News has learned, raising questions over why it was shuttered so urgently at the beginning of the summer.
The science centre was fenced off from the public and closed just hours after an announcement on Friday, June 21. The rush, the government said at the time, was due to the urgent safety issues plaguing the building.
Internal emails obtained through freedom of information laws, however, reveal that the province began working on the plan to close the structure and sell its key message to the public at least 10 days before the announcement was made.
A trove of emails between government communication staff and senior Infrastructure Ontario officials show that a news release announcing the sudden closure was being prepared as early as June 11, while a plan to fence off the building …