TORONTO - It's been less than a month since Premier Dalton McGuinty was re-elected to office with a majority government, but two groups of protesters were already reminding him Thursday that not everyone is happy with the status quo.
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty staged a brief occupation in a government building where the premier has an office to protest the current rates of welfare and disability support payments.
The group of more than two dozen protesters said they occupied the premier's office, while a government spokeswoman said it was actually a civil service office.
Protester Rachel Huot said the group is calling for an immediate increase to social assistance rates, and is not willing to wait and see how the premier delivers on his promise to fight poverty.
"He's announced a whole bunch of empty promises, naming poverty committees, saying his focus is on poverty during this next mandate, but we don't need poverty benchmarks,'' she said.
"We know when you're paying your entire assistance cheque to your rent that you need money.''
The group left without incident after getting a meeting with officials to voice their concerns. No arrests were made and the meeting was called "cordial.''
At the same time, a few dozen protesters held a rally on the front lawn of the legislature, calling for action to stop violence against women and children.
Chanting and singing through a cold rain, the protesters highlighted that 302 women and children have been murdered in Ontario since 1995.
"We know that all parties support ending violence against women, of course, but we need a broad strategy,'' said spokeswoman Eileen Morrow.
"Now that the election's over, we want to send a message to them that even though that part is over, this is the beginning of their term, and it's the beginning of our continuing work to make sure the commitments they made happen.''
Mingling among the protesters outside the legislature was New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton, who said he's not surprised people are already beginning to protest against the Liberals.
"The reality is Ontario has become the child-poverty capital of Canada over the last four years, and while social assistance benefits and Ontario Works benefits have increased modestly, the cost of the hydro bill, the cost of transit, the cost of rent, many of these things have increased substantially,'' he said.
"And in terms of violence against women, in terms of services for those who have had to flee relationships, the situation's not getting any better.''
