On Saturday, protesters upset with Doug Ford gathered at Ottawa’s human rights monument and other locations across Ontario as the premier deals with scandals and an all-time low in polling numbers.
This rally was one of many happening across the province, part of a continuing movement called “Fight Ford.”
“I didn’t protest much when I was younger,” said Johane Hamilton, who held a sign labeling Ford “Canada’s Lil’ Trump” on one side and claiming he was “more crooked than this sign” on the other.
“[Ford] made me angry enough that I felt the need to go out now.”
A recent poll from Liaison Strategies shows that only 24 percent of Ontarians approve of Ford’s performance, which is reportedly the lowest approval rating recorded for him by the polling firm.
Lois Pond, who helped organize the protest through her work with the Ottawa Harm Reduction Collective, expressed surprise that number wasn’t even lower.
She mentioned feeling saddened that Ontario voters have had to “see how bad it can get.”
“But here we are. I mean, all I can do is hope that we learn from this, right?” said Pond, who previously worked as an outreach worker at one of the province’s now-closed supervised drug consumption sites.
“And hope that we grow … because frankly, once people have died, you can’t bring them back.”
CBC reached out to Ford’s office on Saturday for a comment regarding the protests but did not receive a response before deadline.
People hold signs at a ‘Fight Ford’ protest in downtown Ottawa on Saturday. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)
“I doubt the system would support us now,” she said. “[Ford’s] dismantled too much.” Pond argued it didn’t matter that an election happened just last year; there are still ways Ontarians could express their opinions.
“We could ask for a leadership review. We can call in the ethics commissioner. He can actually be investigated by the RCMP,” Hamilton suggested.
“I would love to see those things happen. He’s crooked. The man is crooked.”
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‘Deeper set of concerns’
Ford has spoken out against the unfavorable polling data, including these latest figures. His office stated in a release Friday that those results weren’t consistent with their own findings – although they did not clarify what those findings were. This low approval comes after two significant scandals. The Ontario government bought a private jet in April but sold it shortly after due to public backlash. A few weeks ago, it became known that some members of Ford’s caucus representing Toronto areas were charging taxpayers for hotel stays, leading to tourism minister Stan Cho resigning from his position in cabinet. Doug Ford’s approval rating hits record low amid hotel expense scandal Peter Graefe, a political science professor at Mc Master University, noted that Saturday’s protesters might be thinking about recent scandals and perceived failures within government. “But behind that is a deeper set of concerns that we’ve seen recurring,” he added, mentioning issues like “a lack of funding for health care,[a] failure to invest in social services and social assistance and concerns about privatization.” Signs and speakers at the Ottawa protest showed various concerns being voiced. Pond explained that when consumption sites closed due to funding cuts under Ford’s administration, there “was no safety net in place” for vulnerable individuals. Signs at Saturday’s rally criticize the Ford government’s decision to pull funding for supervised drug consumption sites. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC) Christophe Elie, an activist and musician, remarked how it’s “easy for [Ford] to stand up to the U. S.… but he’s not standing up for the people of Ontario.” “There are northern communities being left behind. There are wildfires happening and people fleeing their homes,” Elie pointed out. For Hamilton, health care was top-of-mind. After spending most of her life in Quebec she faced medical issues while her husband dealt with cancer after moving to Ontario.“I doubt the system would support us now,” she said. “[Ford’s] dismantled too much.” Pond argued it didn’t matter that an election happened just last year; there are still ways Ontarians could express their opinions.
“We could ask for a leadership review. We can call in the ethics commissioner. He can actually be investigated by the RCMP,” Hamilton suggested.
“I would love to see those things happen. He’s crooked. The man is crooked.”
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