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Therme, according to a Wednesday report by the New York Times, allegedly “exaggerated its experience in its bid to secure the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍødeal ... (and) falsely presented itself as an industry player that operated as many as half a dozen spas in Europe,” when it did not, adding that it also used a logo with a “striking similarity” to another European spa company with the same name.

“When I heard this allegation, I went directly to the minister and to the deputy and said, ‘here, look into this,’ ” Ford said. 

“But now I understand they’re all one company,” he said of the two different Therme firms. “I guess they’re a larger, stronger company, but they’re going to look into this obligation and find out and make sure that all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted,” the premier said.

Therme, a European company, was granted a 95-year lease for a spa at the redeveloped Ontario Place site by Infrastructure Ontario, a government agency.

In a statement, Therme said the Times report is inaccurate.

It already runs two large spa resorts, in Bucharest and Munich, and it “followed all the rules of the bidding process” — including the requirement to have a net worth of $100 million, the statement said.

The owners of the two companies, it added, have “maintained a collaborative partnership in which expertise, operational data, and talent” for several of their spas was shared. Following the death of one of the owners “this expertise was consolidated within Therme Group, where many of the original team members have continued to work for nearly a decade. This collaboration partnership was formalized in 2019.”

Last December, Ontario’s auditor general raised concerns about the process for the spa site, saying the company was given special access to provincial executives during a bidding process “that was not fair or transparent” and that Therme’s finances also “appeared weak.”

On Wednesday, Ford said the Times report would not prompt an investigation, but he plans to “double- and triple-check the contract and ensure ... anything that was said in the story from the (New York Times), we’ll look into and make sure it passes the smell test.”

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said Ford “may well have been played,” and earlier Liberal House Leader John Fraser urged the government to “do the right thing and cut this deal.”

In the legislature, Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma defended the contract, saying Therme passed Infrastructure Ontario’s rigorous financial process.

She, too, was adamant that the government had no plans to break the long lease, touting the almost 5,000 jobs the redevelopment project will create and the 2,000 permanent positions once complete.

Surma accused the former Liberal government of abandoning the site more than a decade ago. “This government is rebuilding it,” she said.

Ford told reporters this is “one small part of Ontario Place. We have (the) Live Nation (concert venue), public realm (parkland). We have the marina there. They’re going to have restaurants and events all around. This is going to be something spectacular at the end of the day.”

Fraser, however, accused the government of rewarding a firm “with no real experience, no transparency and no money” and said Ford was “led down the garden path.”

“Therme didn’t win a contract — they won a prize, and the deck was stacked behind closed doors,” Fraser said in the legislature.

The auditor general earlier found that the cost of the entire Ontario Place redevelopment has ballooned to about $2.2 billon, several times the original estimate. 

Liberal MPP Stephen Blais accused Ford and Surma of ignoring “every financial red flag” but pushing ahead with the deal anyway.

Surma, however, said “there were over 30 participants in the process. Therme was recommended by Infrastructure Ontario, an arm’s length agency. We’ve done auditor general reports; we’ve had integrity commissioner reports. What’s most important to Ontarians today is to protect Ontario, to fight for Ontario, to fight for Canada, to protect jobs. That is what our government is doing.”

In 2023, º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMayor Olivia Chow agreed, as a condition of º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøgetting a new deal to repair the city’s pandemic-ravaged finances, that the city accept the Ford government’s “authority to advance project approvals for Ontario Place.”

She told the Star’s David Rider that she has “always supported a public park in that area — I continue to hold the same view. My grandkids and I spent many beautiful hours down by Ontario Place. Who knows what’s going to happen?” with the redevelopment, she said. “We’ll see.”

With files from David Rider