99 per cent of Waterloo region against hospital privatization, says health coalition

The Waterloo Region Health Coalition (WRHC) is hoping the results from their volunteer-run poll will help put pressure on the Ontario government.

The coalition joined others across Ontario Tuesday announcing the results of their vote on whether the public supports what they callDoug Ford's plan for hospital privatization.

Waterloo region's coalition says 28,054 citizens voted against privatization, while only 267 voted for it.

According to WRHC, a total of 382,000 people across Ontario also voted against privatization, which made up about 98 per cent of the votes.

"[We need to] let Mr. Ford and the government understand that there's a second opinion here," said Jim Stewart, the chair of WRHC. "He doesn't have to listen to the corporate opinion that thinks this is a good idea, and the reason they think it's a good idea is blatantly obvious, because they stand to make billions of dollars in profit."

The coalition says the vote was in response to the Ford government's announcement in January to move forward with the privatization of some services. 

The WRHC plans to join other coalitions from across Ontario in front of Queen's Park Wednesday morning to present the results to the government.