My Summer Lair Chapter #295: Is Ontario Place Still A Symbol Of Canadian Hope?
When it first opened in 1971, Ontario Place was designed to reflect all that the citizens of Ontario and even Canada embodied: our heritage, our diversity, our creativity and our future potential.
Your Tomorrow is lifted from an 1969 Ontario Place promotional brochure for the theme park; built on four islands made of reclaimed land on Lake Ontario:
“Ontario Place is a mirror to show you yourself.
Your heritage.
Your land.
Your work.
Your creativity.
And your tomorrow.”
Ontario Place was hope and civic pride but as a symbol it’s now like Detroit’s car factories with those industrious assembly lines. That was then…this is now.
When director Ali Weinstein began shooting Your Tomorrow entirely at Ontario Place the park was in a state of limbo. The vision was gone and yet the park remained. Often it was neglected; the rides were shut down. Though as a park it still offered visitors nature trails, forests and a pebble beach.
An upfront disclaimer about conversation with Ali about her gentle yet compelling documentary Your Tomorrow.
I’m not here to blindly bash Premier Doug Ford over Ontario Place…that loud narrative lacks nuance and it instantly hijacks the honest conversation and distracts from the dreams we should be having. Yes, as it’s currently constructed the deal to build a waterpark and spa at Ontario Place is a flawed business deal. That’s not in dispute. However, once contracts are signed, however terrible they may be, it instantly becomes a legal matter.
The more important discussion…the one we’re not having because we continue to harp on Doug Ford…is what do you want? What’s your vision for Toronto and what it could become? When you watch Your Tomorrow you’ll see a lot of Ontario Place’s history as a proud provincial showcase.
Yet by 2012 Ontario Place was closed by the Government of Ontario after years of diminishing attendance and revenue. We simply stopped going. That’s why it’s not a Doug Ford issue.
Ford was first elected in 2018. He is an issue in the future but he’s not the primary reason why it closed in 2012. Same when Ontario Place reopened its doors in 2015 as a public park, although this time with no programming.
Ali shares how a community formed around the park primarily during the pandemic. Especially when we were trapped in endless lockdowns. This wasn’t hope for tomorrow, it was just hope for today.
Ali tells me: “What I saw at Ontario Place was a bunch of people coming together because of a shared love of a space and then finding friends and making friendships. And a lot of those friendships were really sweet.”
That sweetness comes through in the documentary which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.
In this My Summer Lair conversation; she and I draw parallels between Ontario Place and Central Park in New York City. We also touch upon the heartbreaking loss of Honest Ed’s. Another Ontario landmark where we simply stopped going. Ali was the executive producer of an Honest Ed’s documentary: There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace. .
Your Tomorrow silently captures Ontario Place in this limbo phase…stuck between a bright past and murky future. Imagine the meditative calm before a neighborhood experiences life-altering gentrification.
Now, before we can unpack all of good stuff…we hafta talk about Vin Diesel. Yes the face of Fast and Furious. One of the exploratory threads in Your Tomorrow is the experiences of the current Ontario Place staff which includes the security.
And one of Ali’s moments captures a security guard providing directions to a lost driver. When the car takes off in the correct direction: the guard turns to his co-workers and says that was Vin Diesel in the car. While not Furious his co-workers were Fast to scoff at his claim.
This conversation about Ontario Place opens with Vin Diesel and closes with Blue Rodeo. Aren’t you glad you visited this Ontario Place?
Behold the Your Tomorrow trailer:
Your Tomorrow is now playing at Hot Docs cinema, The Fox on December 11 and 12 with additional dates in 2025.
Your Tomorrow @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Wednesday September 11, 2024 at 2:15 pm (EST)
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