Protest in Windsor targets Doug Ford government policies and transparency concerns

Windsorites protested outside of MPP Andrew Dowie’s office on the weekend, opposing Ford government policies. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco was on scene.

Rallies were held across Ontario as demonstrators pushed back against policies from Premier Doug Ford’s government, with concerns ranging from healthcare to government transparency.

Speaking at a protest in front of Conservative MP Andrew Dowie’s office on Tecumseh Road East, one of the protesters, Patrick Hannon, said participants were united by multiple frustrations.

“We have to hold this government accountable,” the co-chair of the Windsor-Essex Health Coalition told CTV News.

“They’re doing things that their rich buddies want, privatizing healthcare, one of the last public services that was for the public from public money. We didn’t pay for profits.”

Mario Spagnuolo, local president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, was at the rally to show solidarity between public sectors facing similar pressures.

“Public education is facing the same kinds of cuts to healthcare with the same kind of agenda,” he said.

“Teachers and education workers are out here supporting their doctors, nurses and ultimately our patients that are waiting in the ER or waiting for services in public healthcare.”

Spagnuolo also pointed to broader concerns about government direction, saying, “These are all indications of what the government’s trying to do with our public services in the province of Ontario.”

Spagnuolo says a similar rally will be held Wednesday in front of Dowie’s office at 4:15 p.m. in support of the education sector.

Saturday’s rally also called for accountability. Hannon criticized recent changes to Freedom of Information laws, saying the people’s ability and oversight have been removed.

“That system that takes care of distributing finances and oversight is protected by the Freedom of Information Act so we can’t actually find out how much money, how many patients, what the patient outcomes are, none of that, that we’ve been able to find through the public system,” he said.

NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky says scandals like the Greenbelt would not have been uncovered had it not been for the Freedom of Information Act.

“It’s not just about what’s happening right now. It completely removes access to any documents about anything this government has done in the past and goes back 40 years, 40 years of wiping out access to freedom of information,” she said.

Members from multiple Unior locals were also present at the rally. Manny Cardoso, secretary-treasurer of local 444 said the turnout reflected a shared responsibility to advocate for communities and essential services.

“Whether you voted for him or not, whether you supported that government or not, our job is to make sure that our governments are taking care of our members, our communities, our people, because this is our way of life in Canada and it can’t go away,” said Cardoso.