Regional Pre-Budget Consultations to be Met with Protest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2016

ADVISORY: Regional Pre-Budget Consultations to be Met with Protest

(TORONTO, ON) ─ Next week, when Members of Provincial Parliament travel to Ontario six cities for pre-budget consultations, they will be met with community protests over austerity cuts and privatization. The Ontario Federation of Labour and the Ontario Common Front will be joining the Ontario Health Coalition for local rallies to protest the deep cuts to Ontario hospitals and social programs.

“Across Ontario, our hospitals are in crisis, hydro is being privatized, student debt is mounting and inequality is rising,” said OFL President Chris Buckley. “It is time for the Wynne Government to abandon her austerity agenda and lay out a plan for restoring public services, growing our economy, expanding Ontario’s revenue base and lifting standards for everyone. The next Ontario budget shouldn’t be constrained by government cuts, it should create an Ontario in which everyone prospers.”

“Nine consecutive years of real-dollar cuts have plunged Ontario into last place in hospital funding. Patients are being left on stretchers in hallways, surgeries are being cancelled and vital health services are being privatized, subject to user fees, or moved out of town,” said Ontario Health Coalition Director Natalie Mehra. “It is beyond time that these devastating hospital cuts be stopped. The Ontario government must restore our public hospital funding to at least the average of all the other provinces in Canada.”

Patients, workers, students, seniors and anti-poverty activists will rally outside of each of the six regional meetings of the Ontario Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, as it conducts its pre-budget consultations:

HAMILTON: Noon on Mon. Jan. 18, 2016
Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, 116 King St. W, Hamilton

WINDSOR: Noon on Tue. Jan. 19, 2016
Caesar’s Windsor, 377 Riverside Dr. E, Windsor

THUNDER BAY: Noon on Wed. Jan. 20, 2016
Valhalla Inn, 1 Valhalla Inn Rd, Thunder Bay

SAULT STE. MARIE: Noon on Thu. Jan. 21, 2016
Delta Sault Ste. Marie Waterfront Hotel, 208 St. Mary’s River Dr, Sault Ste. Marie

OTTAWA: Noon on Fri. Jan. 22, 2016
Ottawa Marriott Hotel, 100 Kent St. N, Ottawa

TORONTO: Noon on Mon. Feb. 1, 2016
South Lawn of the Queen’s Park Legislature (College St. & University Ave.)

For information on the rallies, visit: http://beta.floating-point.com/ofl/index.php/rallyagainstausterity

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.

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For further information:

Joel Duff, OFL Communications Director: 416-707-0349 (cell) or jduff@ofl-org.flywheelsites.com *ENG/FRENCH*