Baranyai: Doug Ford’s PCs could use a math refresher

Article content

In 2020, when Ontario introduced new math curricula for grades one to eight, standardized test scores already had been going downhill for a decade. Last year, just half of Grade 6 pupils were meeting the provincial standard in math. Ontario Conservatives’ “back-to-basics” focus on math is helping young people prepare for tech careers and basic household budgeting. Unfortunately, a basic math refresher also seems in order for some of the folks managing our money at Queen’s Park.

Article content

Take the government’s decision to cancel the province’s 10-year contract with The Beer Store, which by Conservatives’ own account will cost $225 million. It’s a steep price to ever-so-slightly expand the alcoholic offerings in grocery stores, and roll out sales in convenience stores a little sooner, fulfilling a pressing demand perceived by no one but the premier.

The Beer Store contract already was set to expire in December 2025; Premier Doug Ford’s inability to wait it out (to save a lot of money) is a little like failing the marshmallow test. Meanwhile, corner store cashiers will become the gatekeepers of underage access to alcohol.

It gets worse. The provincial Liberals assert the true cost of cancelling the contract is closer to $1 billion. Let’s frame that in math problem form: How long would it take to waste $1 billion, at a rate of $1 million a day? The answer: You would have to flush away $1 million a day, every day, for nearly three years.

This staggering abuse of funds became a sharp point of contrast this week for folks protesting the closure of the Ontario Science Centre. The iconic attraction was erected in 1969. It was abruptly shuttered on June 21, after an engineering report by Rimkus Consulting Group raised concerns parts of the roof made with aerated concrete could be at risk of collapsing under snow buildup.

Article content

“Unfortunately, we have to take the warning signs of engineers very seriously,” Infrastructure minister Kinga Surma told reporters this week. “It was a very difficult decision.”

Surma’s dilemma was preceded by the premier’s deeply unpopular decision, announced last April, to relocate the Science Centre downtown, and tear down the remarkable building designed by Toronto architect Raymond Moriyama. A new facility is slated to open in 2028 within a redeveloped Ontario Place, alongside a lush, private spa.

Eight months after this decision, Infrastructure Ontario belatedly released cost estimates justifying the move. The report estimated the government could build and run a new facility for $600 million less than it would cost to renovate and operate the existing facility during a 50-year period. (That’s $12 million a year, for those following the math.)

Of course, Ford already gave his reason for the move back in April: “All of us grew up going to the Science Centre one time or another. It’s tired.”

Well, I’m tired, too. The Moriyama building is the same age as me, and though my body may sag in places, I find it hard to believe architecture of this vintage is too old to be saved.

Article content

Indeed, the Rimkus report recommends precisely how to save the roof. It recommends replacing the aerated concrete panels in stages during the next 10 years, as they come up for regularly scheduled renewal. Moreover, the most high-risk panels (which comprise less than three percent of the roof area) can be addressed while safely keeping nearly all of the permanent exhibits open to the public.

Keeping the facility open is less a matter of health and safety than simple spending priorities.

The cost of these roof repairs is pegged between $22 and $40 million, a drop in the keg, as it were.

write.robin@baranyai.ca

Article content