Thousands attended Queen's Park to protest health care privatization in Ontario
Thousands of protesters gathered on the lawn of Queen’s Park Monday afternoon to show their opposition to the privatization of healthcare as the legislature resumes following a summer break.
The protest was organized by the Ontario Health Coalition, an organization dedicated to protecting public health care. The group says some 4,000 people arrived at the site by way of approximately 70 buses from around the province, including North Bay, Sudbury, Cornwall and Niagara.
Organizers estimate attendance at Thursday's event reached between 5,000 and 10,000.
IN PICTURES: Protests over health care funding at Queen's Park
“It’s the opening day of the legislature so we want to send a very strong message that sets the tone for this legislative session, the Ford government has no mandate to privatize. No one got to vote on that,” Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra told CTV News Toronto.
The Ontario government passed a bill in the spring which allows private clinics to conduct more OHIP-covered surgeries and procedures in a bid to free up health-care capacity.
Premier Doug Ford, however, has previously insisted that Ontarians will continue to be able to access health care using their OHIP card and has rejected concerns that the legislation will lead to a privatization of health care.
Mehra said that those at the protest includes patients, doctors, nurses and union members who believe the Ford government is dismantling local public hospitals in favour of privatizing them.
“More than 500 emergency department closures,” she said. “Dozens of birthing units in public hospitals, ICUs working terribly short staffed, dangerously short staffed, and yet they are shunting literally hundreds of millions of dollars of public money over to private-for-profit clinics to privatize our hospitals.”
Also in the attendance is a contingent from the Minden, Ont. area, who had their local hospital close in June.
“The impact has been horrendous,” said Bonnie Rowe who is the chair of the Haliburton Highlands Long-Term Care Coalition.
Rowe said nearest hospital is now a 25 minute-drive away.
“In a cardiac arrest, those minutes count.”
In a statement provided to CTV News Toronto on Monday, a spokesperson for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said that the Ontario government is “proud to have one of the largest publicly funded healthcare systems in the world.”
“Since 2018 we have grown our health care workforce by over 63,000 nurses and 8,000 new physicians and built 3,500 hospital beds across the province,” they said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Suspect sought after fatal slashing in downtown Toronto
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Mother's Day movies that pull at ALL the heartstrings
This Mother's Day Weekend, take a look at some of the most emotional movies inspired by moms.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.