On Saturday, January 26 at 1pm nearly 100 buses rolled in to Toronto from towns and cities across Ontario, and as far away as Timmins. Over 15 thousand Ontarians from all walks of life join the Ontario Federation of Labour rally at Allan Gardens in Toronto (Jarvis and Carleton), followed by a march to the Ontario Liberal Convention at Maple Leaf Gardens to demand good jobs, public services, workers rights and the recall of the legislature only days before the final budget vote.
According to OFL President Sid Ryan, McGuinty’s budget will hurt the poorest and most vulnerable people most and it will mean job loss and service cuts that affect every Ontario family. It is time to cancel tax cuts and loopholes for banks and corporations and reinvest this money in making Ontario more livable for our communities.
The rally was organized by nearly 90 community and labour groups who have come together under the banner, “We Are Ontario,” to oppose budget cuts that will deliver deep cuts to jobs and services while continuing to subsidize corporate profits. The rally provided an unmistakably public expression of the widespread opposition to budgetary unfairness that has been reported in many recent opinion polls. A survey conducted last month by Public Polling Inc. found that 68 percent of Ontarians want to see corporations pay their fair share to help reduce the provincial deficit and 58 percent support taking the issue of fair taxation to a provincial election.