Ontario’s public health system is in crisis! On May 28, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) gathered in downtown Toronto for their “Get on Board” protest.
The protest was a province-wide day of action, with participants from various communities across Ontario demanding the Ford government to “stop the hospital privatization trainwreck.”
“We won’t stop fighting because this healthcare system is ours, it’s not private equity’s to own,” said OHC executive director Natalie Mehra.
Thousands of Coalition members rallied at GO train stations before heading to Queen’s Park. As the chanting mass of protesters arrived and gathered at Union Station, Mehra addressed the crowd.
“We want good ratios for our nurses instead of magical convention islands that nobody asked for,” she said. “We want addiction treatment and supportive housing instead of multibillion dollar jail beds. Enough is enough.”
Ontarians have been suffering the effects of underfunding for years, which only ramped up under Doug Ford’s leadership. The OHC is arguing that funding is being funnelled into for-profit clinics instead of public hospitals.
According to calculations from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the Coalition found that Ontario has the lowest healthcare spending per person in all of Canada, despite having the largest population.
Donna Del Re, who has been part of the Mississauga Health Coalition for the past four years, says she attended the protest to see the others rooted in this cause and “to let the government know I am not in favour of their policies.”
Many other attendees, like Del Re, have had personal experiences with healthcare privatization and are now demanding the government to halt for-profit healthcare. “It was validating seeing people together fighting for the same cause,” Del Re says, adding that the attendance numbers were uplifting.
She encourages others to never give up hope. “Things can improve if we continue to advocate for our rights and vote.”