Large crowd gathers outside Queen’s Park for anti-Ford rally

A large crowd gathered outside Queen’s Park in Toronto Saturday for a rally against Ontario Premier Doug Ford to protest a flood of recent announcements from the provincial government.

Protesters chanted “shame” in unison and held up signs against several issues, including the Greenbelt scandal, the proposed takeover of Billy Bishop Airport to allow jets, the potential changes to freedom of information laws and possible cuts to OSAP grants.

“I have a lot of concerns about what Doug Ford is doing,” demonstrator Sue Echo told CBC Toronto. “There are never-ending things that he’s done that everyone in Ontario should be concerned about.”

Toronto’s rally was part of a province-wide demonstration, entitled “Fight Ford Protests,” for which rallies took place in a variety of cities across the Greater Toronto Area, including Brampton and Newmarket, Ont.

Mackenzie Babinsky, another demonstrator at the Toronto rally, said she’s worried about the OSAP cuts as a student, but she’s even more concerned about the privatization of healthcare.

“Healthcare is something that is so fundamental to a functional society,” she told CBC Toronto. “Looking towards the future, my parents are aging and I have genuine concerns about what that means for [them] and for us.”

It’s scary to think Ontario could become more like our neighbours south of the border, Babinsky said.

“We see how detrimental it is in the U.S. to have privatized healthcare,” she added. “I would love to see a lot more funding go towards public healthcare, reducing the emergency room wait times, more money for nurses, for personal support workers.”

Attendee Eric Murray, who was holding up a “Vote Ford Out” sign, said he doesn’t like what’s happening in Ontario and while he doesn’t usually voice his opinion, this time it’s different.

“[Ford’s] flooding the system with lots of ideas to keep us occupied,” he said. “The Ford government has definitely motivated me to come out and speak my voice.”

Despite this, Murray said he doesn’t think the provincial government will backpedal on any of the recent announcements.

Also in attendance at the rally was Green Party Member of Parliament Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands). She said Ford’s government is a threat to wildlands and protected lands.

“We’ve got to pay attention to the climate,” she told CBC Toronto. “We’re heading into a killer of a summer and we’re not prepared.”

This is just one of many things Ford has done that are “appalling,” May said.

“If Queen’s Park or Ottawa thinks they can take our rights away, they’ve got to think again,” she said. “We will fight. This is a crazy scheme.”