Canadian Architect journalist denied access to Ontario government press briefing 

A journalist with Canadian Architect magazine was denied access to an Ontario government technical briefing on a controversial project to redevelop Ontario Place, a waterfront public property in Toronto. 

In the online briefing, an official from Infrastructure Ontario, an agency of the provincial Ministry of Infrastructure, announced the terms of a lease agreement between the provincial government and a private developer working on the project. A media advisory described the briefing as open to “accredited media only.” 

In an email, Elsa Lam, editor-in-chief of Canadian Architect magazine, said she had sent an email to request access to the briefing before it started, but never got a response. “I was surprised to not at least receive a reply that my request was denied and for what reason,” she wrote.

The magazine has published in-depth coverage of the Ontario Place redevelopment project. Lam also covered a related 2023 court hearing; at that hearing, the court allowed her and a journalist with Spacing magazine to make audio recordings for their notes. 

A journalist with Spacing magazine, which has extensively covered the redevelopment, was also denied access to the Oct. 3 briefing. 

The Ministry of Infrastructure and the minister’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.