Ford government spent more than a week planning ‘end-of-day’ science centre closure | Globalnews.ca

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 was greenlit on June 17.

The Ministry of Infrastructure has repeatedly stated that the closure was necessary due to the risk posed by panels in the roof of the Ontario Science Centre.

The premier’s office told Global News that the government announced the closure once “mitigation measures” like alternative summer camp plans were in place. They said the announcement was made as quickly as possible after the engineering report was sent to the government.

“When the final report was delivered, the shutdown happened as soon as it was feasible to do so, only a few days later,” the premier’s office said.

Emails and attachments obtained by Global News show a version of the government’s announcement was being prepared more than a week before the closure, as staff with both the Ministry of Infrastructure and Infrastructure Ontario poured over the details of how to present the plan.

On June 11, a communications official with the Ministry of Infracture sent an email to Infrastructure Ontario, asking the Crown agency to conduct a “rush” review of “announcement products” they were working on related to the science centre.

The email said “products” for the “upcoming OSC announcement” were made up of:

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At the time, the Crown agency was still awaiting the results of an engineering report that assessed the structural integrity of the science centre’s roof, including the panels and aerated concrete materials used in its construction in the 1960s.

However, even as engineers put the finishing touches on the report, officials at Infrastructure Ontario appeared to have a firm understanding of the primary issue, alongside government staff.

“Right now some of the answers are very directly pointing to roof panels as the culprit,” wrote one Infrastructure Ontario communication official on June 12.

“Engineers reviewing the roof conditions say the condition of roof panels above the Great Hall and elsewhere require closure by Oct. 31.”

The report was sent to Infrastructure Ontario in its final form on June 18, three days before the announcement and at least a week after work on the closure began.

The internal emails also appear to capture work by officials to craft a “narrative” about why the science centre was being shuttered based on a yet-to-be-finished expert report.

“There are three steps I think that link the engineering report findings/advice to government’s decision to close more immediately,” an Infrastructure Ontario communications official said in a June 12 email.

The next day, on June 13, emails show that communications staffers were working on a finalized copy of a news release — eight days before the urgent announcement was to be made.

The work included drafting a quote from a senior civil servant, explaining why the closure was taking place. The contents of that quote were apparently subject to government oversight.

“For the quote, hoping you can get an (Infrastructure Ontario) approved quote over to us asap so we can include it for (Minister’s Office) and (Premier’s Office) approval,” a strategic advisor for the Ministry of Infrastructure wrote.

The emails suggest that the process included regular consultations with Infrastructure Minister Surma’s office, with staff kept in the loop and offered opportunities to share feedback on the plan.

“The main request from (Ministry of Infrastructure) I have tried to address is to flesh out a bit of detail on what types of building issues were identified at the time of the business case, so that we can say, ‘and since then, we’ve had more issues…’,” another Infrastructure Ontario email states.

The day before the announcement was made, an internal message made it clear who was ultimately in charge of the decision.

“Tomorrow’s announcement is being led by the Ministry,” an Infrastructure Ontario official wrote. “As such, any media calls will be immediately referred to (the Ministry of Infrastructure).”

Minister Surma did not appear at the announcement or take questions about it on the day the closure was confirmed. Her office did not address questions about why she was absent from an announcement her team was leading.

With the communications strategy out of the way, Infrastructure Ontario turned its attention to ensuring access to the Ontario Science Centre was swiftly and efficiently closed — all while employees continued to work inside the building.

On June 17, work began to fence off the attraction, with the plan apparently specifically drawn up to avoid tipping people off to the plan to close the structure.

“We have a green light for the fencing to start through BGIS,” a senior Infrastructure Ontario official wrote on June 17, referencing a facility management service that seems to have been retained to help with the fence work.

“Let us work on the back of house areas first where we are not going to get a lot of attention, but we need to move it forward quickly. We need to be prepped to push the FINAL button on fencing on Thursday night or Friday AM or Friday PM.”

A fence was eventually put around the building on the morning of June 21, prompting groups like Save the Ontario Science Centre to head to the site, fearing a closure was coming.

“They not only kept it secret, they hired an army of private security to keep people away while they were constructing the fence,” Floyd Ruskin, co-chair of Save the Ontario Science Centre, said.

“Our team was there on the Friday morning, the posts for the gates had already been installed — so that means holes were dug, concrete was poured.”

While the government has made its intention to relocate the science centre to Ontario Place public since April 2023, the sudden closure — with almost no time between announcement and doors closing for the last time — caught many by surprise.

Ruskin’s group has overseen a letter-writing campaign to save the attraction. He said a key theme in the messages sent to the government was frustration from families that they couldn’t say goodbye.

“One of the biggest things said is, ‘We would have liked to have an opportunity to visit one more time,” he said.