Demonstrators gather outside Doug Ford’s rally in Kitchener
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford was in Kitchener Friday night, holding a campaign rally at Bingemans.
“It's time to paint Kitchener-Waterloo blue in '22. So on June 2, everybody let's do it, let's get it done and God bless the people of Ontario,” Ford told supporters.
As Ford made his pitch to voters inside, outside, demonstrators weathered rain and thunder to speak out against his leadership.
“When I started teaching right after Mike Harris, I taught kindergarten, so my first year I had 27 kids,” said teacher Jennifer Garneau Duncan. “Then the next year, when the Liberals came in, they were down to 20. Now it’s back up to 27, which is an insane amount for kindergarten.”
Educators were one of several groups – each advocating for their own priorities and interests – that lined the entrance to Bingeman’s ahead of Ford’s rally.
Other demonstrators carried signs with references to the environment, healthcare and housing.
Some of the messages targeted protections for drinking water and trees, capping class sizes, creating a greater supply of affordable housing and protecting public healthcare.
Many placards were aimed at repealing Bill 124, which limits wage increases for public-sector workers, including nurses.
Members of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) made up the largest portion of demonstrators hoping to get their message across to Ford on Friday.
“We‘re here to show him… we need help. Registered nurses in this province are beyond the breaking point. We are at the point of collapse now,” said Erin Ariss with the ONA.
“We need to see his oppressive wage legislation repealed. Beyond that, we need to have a sustainable workforce with manageable workload, Ontario is 30,000 RNs short.”
The Ontario election is June 2.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.