TORONTO – “Kathleen Wynne refuses to come clean with the people of Ontario and tell us what the total cost of the MaRS bailout will be,” said Ontario PC Candidate Vic Fedeli “We continue to hear from whistle blowers about cost overruns and additional payments beyond the $317 million.”
One of the major additional costs of the MaRS scandal is the renovation of MaRS Phase II office space for Public Health Ontario.
“Whistleblowers have told us that the cost of the renovation are way above original estimates and is upwards of $85 million,” said Fedeli “This ‘Real Estate’ deal, as Kathleen Wynne calls it, is becoming more and more expensive by the day.”
Beyond this $85 million in cost overruns for the Public Health Ontario renovation, Kathleen Wynne needs to explain the additional costs within the leaked Treasury Board documents, including:
The province will be covering a $45.7M short fall because MaRS will be running in the red until 2018.
The government plans to break lease contracts in order to move people into MaRS. This cost is unknown.
Fit-up costs: $106 million over the next three years to renovate and prepare office and lab space for building tenants.
The province will be paying $11 million a year, amortized over 40 years. Adding up to $440 million. (This cost needs to be explained by Kathleen Wynne as it is unclear how it relates to the initial $317M bailout).
“I have one question for Kathleen Wynne. Does she think it is acceptable for Ontario taxpayers to cast their ballots on June 12th without knowing the full cost of the MaRS bailout?” Fedeli concluded.
