A Niagara At Large Brief
There was another rally this Tuesday, September 13, on the state of Ontario’s hospital services at Queen’s Park.
Niagara's Yellow Shirt troops at Queen's Park
Some buses of residents from Niagara, joined the noon-hour rally, including members of the citizen-based ‘Yellow Shirt Brigade’ from central and south Niagara, who have spent the last three or more years lobbying for fair access to acute care, including emergency services, in Port Colborne, Fort Erie and other hospital sites in their area of the region.
Will this latest rally – one of many that have been held in the past – do any good? If you were there or wish you were there in a show of support, Niagara At Large invites you to share your thoughts below.
Niagara At Large 
It is simply disgusting that these dedicated people have to take so much of their time out of their lives to pressure a government who is morally obligated to provide the healthcare we can all be comfortable with. The current government should be turfed out because of their apathy towards this very important issue.
Those currently seeking office must have their feet held to the fire demanding that they clearly express in detail the plan to provide the service the people deserve.
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Mr. Snyder, unfortunately it seems none of the parties, including the current government, have their priorities straight nor have they emphasized many other important issues like this one. For example, has any party (other than the Greens perhaps) even mentioned the environment to any degree? If you listen to the ads, our health care system has never been better! I wonder if these people at Queen’s Park care about us at all. They live in a different and VERY privileged world. I doubt many of them know the cost of a loaf of bread.
Like Fiona, I totally agree about the lack of press coverage. It makes the government look bad. So much for freedom of the press or its integrity. Approximately 20 seconds of coverage versus two minutes of coverage on putting together bikes for children. Nice story but not vital! There is a good article on You Tube if anyone is interested, under Toronto Health Care rally September 13.
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My daughter, Samantha, and I were on the Port Colborne/Welland bus that took about 30 of us to Queen’s Park today, where we joined hundreds of others from all over Ontario in a rally to call attention to our concerns over the state of Ontario’s healthcare. Predictably, the major media was quick to label this a rally of healthcare unions anxious to protect their jobs. What can you expect from the totally corporate-owned media, after all? Even those reporters wandering amongst the crowd and focusing cameras on hand-made signs from local healthcare coalitions didn’t want to make the connection: many of us do NOT work in unionized healthcare-related jobs. Yet we fully understand that front-line healthcare workers are the ones who care for us when we are ill. We have a common cause. All of us were there to let ALL candidates from ALL political parties know this: healthcare is THE NUMBER ONE issue in this election. So far, it hasn’t even been on the table. We all recognize that it is an issue that no political party wants to take on, because of its enormous complexity. But, guess what? Party leaders and candidates are going to HAVE to talk about it, because we are NOT going to let them off the hook.
We heard from strong speakers such as Michael Hurley (OCHU), Linda Haslam Stroud (ONA), Nancy Pridham (OPSEU), as well as Niagara Falls councilor, Wayne Gates. Niagara’s concerns were front and centre in the rally; Linda McKellar from Fort Erie, a proud Yellow Shirt member, played her bagpipes to honour those who have died in the recent C.diff. outbreak. After some powerful music and speeches, we all paraded down University Street to Elm Street and back up to Queen’s Park. We were joined in our cheers and chants by healthcare workers from the hospitals along University, who had taken a brief break from their duties to express solidarity with us.
I yelled at bemused Torontonians as I marched, “We’re rallying for the future of YOUR public heatlh care. Why aren’t you?”
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While the general turnout from around the province was large, the Fort Erie bus was far from full and seemed to be the same people, primarily the Yellow Shirts. Such a shame. I hope the people of Fort Erie realize the sacrifices and efforts these folks are continuing to make on their behalf. The turnout was fairly impressice and the Health Coalition and Nathalie Mehra deserve credit for their work and organizational efforts. The effect remains to be seen. I saw press coverage on CHCH but so far NOTHING on the Toronto stations. One would think they could get it to air before Hamilton.
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