A province-wide protest putting Premier Doug Ford on notice about government cuts was held Wednesday in Guelph’s downtown. The May 1 General Strike Against Doug Ford is intended to tell the Ontario government that the people he serves are willing to grind the province to a halt if cuts to programs and services aren’t halted.
Local organizer Meghan Shuebrook said Wednesday afternoon’s event came together after only about 48 hours of planning. About 85 people were in attendance at St. George’s Square holding signs and hoping for the rain to be kept at bay.
The protest was part of a broader movement that began in Hamilton and Toronto, but was reflected in communities across Ontario. The event encouraged people in Ontario to take one hour on May 1 to stand in solidarity with people affected by current or impending cuts in a collective strike action.
The speakers at the event represented a number of viewpoints, from cuts to health care and education to worker’s rights and environmental concerns.
Shuebrook believes the messages brought forward by the protestors are stronger because the demonstration is led by regular people, not unions or special interest groups.
“It was meant to be a grassroots event coming straight from the people, not aligned with any politics in particular,” said Shuebrook. “It’s just a space to let people express their opinions around the erecent cuts and policies in the Ford government.”
If the cuts don’t stop, Shuebrook said more strike actions will be coming.
“We are hoping that sense of individual power can turn into more of a collective power in case an actual general strike is needed in the future,” she said.
Ford has stated that cuts are necessary in reaction to over a decade of misspending by the previous Liberal governments.
Speakers at Wednesday’s strike included Barbara Salsberg Mathews, Steve Dyck, Jenny Lucs, Keehan Koorn, Phil Allt, and Arlene Slocombe.
Allt referred to the premier’s cuts as a wrecking ball, but said they will some day be undone.
“Doug Ford takes for granted that he is the premier of Ontario because of something very simple — that is democracy. Something that working people fought for for a long time,” said Allt.
In her remarks, Slocombe said, in her role as executive director of Wellington Water Watchers, she has been watching the government closely.
“I can’t even come close to keeping up with everything that is being cut and everything that is being threatened — and that’s just as it relates to this one very narrow topic of source water protection,” said Slocombe. “It’s hard for anyone to keep up.”
Adelie Casarin, a student in the soon-to-be-cut Cadence program for at-risk youth, took to the mic to advocate for it.
“It’s just three teachers who took the time and decided they wanted to make a change to help high school students struggling to finish their education,” said Casarin. “This program is being affected by Ford’s cuts.”
“The whole program is about learning to be a leader and bettering yourself moving forward. When I found out about how it might be getting cut, I realized we all needed to come together because this program has helped me more than anything else,” said Casarin.
Shuebrook said more people are becoming involved in protesting the provincial government every time more cuts are announced.
“As more people get affected more people will hopefully get activated,” she said.
