Hundreds of protesters converged at the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday to try to make poverty a top issue in next month's provincial election, disrupting traffic downtown.

Demonstrators -- which included members of student groups, unions, labour groups and social justice agencies -- gathered on the lawn of Queen's Park to demand action on homelessness, the minimum wage and the increasing cost of tuition.

Police erected barricades and kept a close eye on the rally, but the event, organized by the Toronto Anti-Poverty coalition, was peaceful.

"Stop the war on the poor and make the rich pay; we're hungry, we're angry," protestors chanted, while banging drums and waving placards.

The rally was one of the largest anti-poverty protests since a demonstration in June 2000 against the previous Conservative government turned into an ugly riot. Protestors on that day accused the government of slashing welfare rates and other social assistance.

On Wednesday, demonstrators voiced their anger against the Liberal government for approving a whopping pay hike for politicians last Christmas.

"It is disgusting, absolutely disgusting, that this government only raised welfare three per cent and raised their own wages 25 per cent,'' said Beric German, of the Toronto Anti-Poverty Coalition. "That is such a disgrace.''

Speakers referred to the cuts made by former Conservative premier Mike Harris, but said incumbent Premier Dalton McGuinty hasn't done much to improve the situation.

Jonah Schein, who works in an emergency food agency, said he sees people every day who can't afford to feed themselves properly.

"The last government was so brutal, it would have taken some serious work just to reverse the cuts that happened in the '90s,'' Schein said. "(But the Liberals) haven't done enough work at all.''

McGuinty has promised to raise the minimum wage to $10.25 by 2010, starting with 75 cents next March. If elected, NDP Leader Howard Hampton has promised to raise it to $10 immediately.

Hampton has also promised to roll back the $22,000-a-year wage increase provincial politicians handed themselves last Christmas. Both McGuinty and Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory are opposed to a rollback.

Cabbies protest

Meanwhile, another demonstration in downtown Toronto caused commuter chaos on Wednesday.

Hundreds of angry taxi drivers jammed the Gardiner Expressway and downtown streets to protest what they say is an unfair rule that allows cabs from outside the city to scoop up fares.

Currently, Toronto taxis can take passengers to Pearson Airport, but they can't pick up passengers there.

GTA limo companies, however, can pick up fares from the airport, drop them off downtown and then pick up passengers who are heading to the airport.

Toronto cabbies say outside limo companies are paying off concierges and others at downtown hotels to get the fares.

"We tried to do it peacefully, year in and year out," Toronto taxi driver Mohamed Nasser said at the protest. "The city and the provincial government keep ignoring us. We can't take it anymore."

Taxi drivers say they want to be safeguarded against the current practice.

"We did everything the city wants, we changed cars ... we go for training, so what else?" asked protest organizer Kamil Trabulsey. "Give us the city, protect us."

Wednesday's protest is aimed at city councillors. Toronto cabbies want them to bring back a bylaw it had suspended, which banned outside cab companies from picking up fares downtown.

With reports from CTV's Paul Bliss and Roger Petersen and files from The Canadian Press