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Wal-Mart Park, anyone? – Metro US

Wal-Mart Park, anyone?

A trip to Toronto’s waterfront may soon feel a lot like walking into the heavily-cluttered advertisement pages of a fashion magazine. That is if the musings of Waterfront Toronto come to fruition.
The government-funded agency responsible for the revitalization of the city’s waterfront is looking to develop a sponsorship program that could see public areas along the waterfront take on corporate names and logos.
That means the soon-to-be-revitalized Lake Ontario Park, lower Donlands and Queen’s Quay might come back with more than just a facelift. They might come back as Wal-Mart Park, the Lower Panasonic Donlands or Burger Kings’ Quay.
Sound outrageous? Olivia Chow, MP for the lakefront riding of Trinity-Spadina, thinks so.
“If we start selling names of public places to corporations, what’s left? Surely our society is governed by more than a materialistic culture,” said Chow.
With only $1.5 billion in seed capital from the federal, provincial and municipal governments to fund a 25-year, $17-billion revitalization program of the city’s waterfront, Waterfront Toronto is required to find ways to pay for and maintain new parks and other facilities, said vice-president of government relations Marissa Piattelli.