Weather puts damper on ‘grassroots’ protest

Protesters at Saturday’s rally. Photo submitted by Leanne Cowan

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Heavy rain kept numbers low on Saturday at a protest rally in Pickering where demonstrators called for the end of the Ford government.

About 50 people showed up outside the commercial plaza on Kingston Road where Pickering-Uxbridge MPP and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy's office is located. Among them was Uxbridge resident Patricia Sayers.

"We want to take a strong stand against the Ford government and the corruption," Sayers said, adding there will be more protests by what she called "a grassroots" movement.

Another Uxbridge resident, Jan (who preferred not to give her last name) said she was there "to stand up to Ford's bullying and for democracy."

Sayers said the demonstrators have a long list of grievances against the Ford government, including "the ongoing Greenbelt scandal, the closing of Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre, the lack of healthcare and education funding, cuts to the Ontario Autism Program and the Freedom of Information scandal."

There was no one in Bethlenfalvy's office, which was closed for the weekend.