EVENTS: Thousands Join Rally at Ontario Legislature to Stop Hospital Cuts

Posted: March 26, 2009

(March 26, 2009)

More than 3,000 people came by bus, car pool and public transit to the front lawn of Queen’s Park on April 29, 2009 to demand that Premier Dalton McGuinty stop the cuts and closures of local hospitals across Ontario.

Small and rural communities were particularly visible with people carrying messages from Wallaceburg, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Welland, Niagara Falls, Strathroy, Petrolia, Burk’s Falls, Kincardine, Quinte West, Picton and other towns. Larger communities also facing cuts such as Hamilton, Guelph, Cambridge and Toronto were also well represented.

Mayors from small and rural communities across Ontario convened a press conference at Queen’s Park during the protest to announce the formation of an alliance of municipalities working to protect their local hospitals. Liberal MPP Kim Craitor from Niagara Falls, where birthing is slated to be cut, sponsored the media studio. Opposition MPPs from the Conservative and NDP parties peppered the Health Minister with questions during Question Period, and then joined protesters outside where leaders and health critics from both parties spoke to the assembled crowd.