FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
27 January 2026
TORONTO, ON – Today, Dr. Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East, issued the following statement regarding the integrity of the Ontario Science Centre:
Eighteen months ago, Doug Ford and Kinga Surma abruptly closed the Ontario Science Centre under the false justification that the roof was at risk of imminent collapse. This claim was summarily rejected by engineers, architects and even the Auditor General.
Now this claim has been rejected by Mother Nature.
On Sunday, Toronto was hammered by a record-breaking snowstorm that deposited an unprecedented 46 centimetres of snow, representing the most extreme single‑day snowfall ever recorded in the City’s history. This also made it the most extreme test of the Science Centre’s integrity – a test that it passed flawlessly.
For years, the Science Centre has been a source of immense cultural, educational and economic value to the people of Don Valley East and Ontario. Its closure has extinguished the hopes and dreams of far too many.
For Ontarians, that loss is a reason to grieve. For Doug Ford and Kinga Surma, it is a reason to fundraise. Only 24 hours after the Science Centre withstood its greatest test, they were hosting a cash-for-access reception to collect $750 per person to fuel their party coffers.
While one of Ontario’s most treasured educational institutions sits dark and locked, Doug Ford and Kinga Surma are living large with friends and donors. They could be listening to Ontarians who are demanding that they open the Science Centre, but instead they’re turning to Ontarians and demanding that they open their wallets.
Surma messed up on the Science Centre, messed up on the Eglinton Crosstown and is messing up on the Ontario Line. It takes breathtaking incompetence to fail so spectacularly, so consistently and still have the nerve to dine big with donors so she can collect $750 per person.
The Science Centre must be restored, reinvigorated and reopened at its current location by providing the funding that it requires. This would deliver a full experience faster and more economically than Doug Ford’s preposterous proposal to relocate it to Ontario Place.