Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 04:35:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Graeme Bacque <cj176@freenet.toronto.on.ca>
During the next five days (October 22-26) the Toronto area will be
experiencing an unprecedented series of protests, as the growing misery
being inflicted on the poor and vulnerable residents of Ontario causes
people to respond in an ever-growing wave of resistance.
These 'Days Of Action' have already taken place in four other Ontario
cities... London, Ont. on December 11/95; Hamilton, Ont. on February 23-24/96
(140,000 people participated - the largest demonstration in Canadian
history); Kitchener/ Waterloo, Ont. on April 18-19/96; and Peterborough,
Ont. (Original home of singer/songwriter Neil Young) on June 24/96.
Activities commence at noon tomorrow with a rally to protest the
devastating cuts to healthcare ($1.5 BILLION dollars over the next four years
- Fifteen of Metro Toronto's hospitals are slated to be closed or merged,
with the loss of six thousand jobs... a total of thirty-eight hospitals
across the province will be closed/merged). At one PM, another rally/
march will get underway from the Ministry of Housing office in downtown
Toronto, and proceed to Queen's Park (The Provincial Legislature for
Ontario) where a tent city will be established... this will remain until
Saturday, October 26. Evictions, and the number of homeless people, have
increased by fifty per cent during the past year... thanks to a cut of
nearly 22 per cent to social assistance rates in Ontario, effective as of
October 1 last year.
Other smaller events - I can't remember them all - will be taking place
on Wednesday and Thursday this week... then at midnight Friday, picket
lines will be going up all over metro Toronto, as union members and their
allies attempt to bring the city to a standstill in a one-day general
strike. The picket sites will be too numerous to count... dozens, perhaps
hundreds, of worksites will be affected. There will be supporting
demonstrations in all parts of the city... including a mass picket of the
Toronto Stock Exchange at 11 AM; and a protest being planned at Toronto's
Granite Club - an elite social club which will be hosting bigwigs in
Toronto for the Breeder's Cup (A prestigious horse race being held in
Canada for the first time). The event is scheduled to occur at Toronto's
Woodbine Racetrack - the scene of a bitter labor dispute earlier this
year... their workers were locked out for several months this
winter/spring; and they had to accept a settlement which cut their wages
substantially.
Saturday, October 26 will see what will be the largest demonstration in
Canadian history, as unionists, community activists, and thousands of
ordinary folk converge on downtown Toronto from the west end of the city.
The march will be proceeding past a hotel where the Progressive
Conservative Party (Ontario's current governing party) will be holding a
conference on the same weekend, and will end with a rally at Queen's
Park. Organizers are forecasting tat 250,000 people will be in attendance.
This government is creating unparalleled misery for the poor and
vulnerable residents of Ontario... it is time to put a stop to tis; once
and for all.
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Greetings, all! *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
*# Graeme Bacque * Toronto, Canada * V: (416) 368-3366 F: (416) 368-5984 #*
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Internet: cj176@torfree.net *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
*#*# What is 'Normal' anyway? And who cares? 'Wild and Wacky' rules!!! #*#*