About an hour after Premier Doug Ford’s announcement at City Hall on Thursday, protesters gathered outside the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club to voice opposition to a wide range of his government’s policies.
About an hour after Premier Doug Ford’s announcement at City Hall on Thursday, protesters gathered outside the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club to voice opposition to a wide range of his government’s policies. Demonstrators raised concerns spanning healthcare cuts, stagnant public sector wages, the controversial Bill 5, and underfunding in education.
Healthcare was a primary focus for Michael, a demonstrator who shared his family’s personal experiences. He argued that delisted services are creating dangerous barriers to care.
“There are at least 219 blood tests that are not covered by OHIP,” he said. “If a doctor says, ‘We should screen you for cancer right now,’ many can’t afford it. Instead of finding cancer when it’s the size of a mustard seed, you find it later when it’s too big.”
He described how his mother, a breast cancer survivor, was affected by changes to screening protocols. “By the time she finally went to the doctor, her body was filled with cancer,” he said. “She died in a way she didn’t have to because of these cuts.”
Stagnant wages and the impact of Bill 124 on public sector workers were another central theme. Mel Barnett and Sandy Garnham of the Words Fighting For campaign spoke on behalf of low-wage workers.
“We are a group of workers across the province in sectors that have been ignored,” Barnett said. “Other provincial workers have received a wage increase. We have not, and we contain some of the lowest-paid workers in the province. In Sandy’s sector, they are working two and three jobs just to survive.”
Barnett, who works in child welfare, connected the funding issues directly to at-risk children. “Families who have children with autism can’t handle their children anymore because there are no services. They’re turning them over to Children’s Aid, which also doesn’t have services. And then we’re housing them in hotels and Airbnbs because there’s no funding.”
Specific legislation also drew sharp criticism. Demonstrator Candace Young said she came to oppose Bill 5, which she argued “steamrolls over the rights of Indigenous peoples and environmental rights.” She also highlighted the college funding crisis. “We are losing a lot of jobs, and we are the lowest-funded college system in Canada. We need to at least get up to par with the other provinces.”
For others, the protest was about the fundamental principle of democratic accountability. As one person put it, “It’s important that regular people are involved in making sure elected representatives actually listen to everyone — not just the people who like them.”
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