Meet the coolest dude in Sault Ste. Marie (7 Labour Day photos)

With temperatures hitting 24 degrees Celcius, it was a bit on the warm side in the Roberta Bondar tent pavilion Monday as Sault Ste. Marie and District Labour Council hosted its 2018 Labour Day solidarity rally.

But Richard Beall, Local 2251 union coordinator for USW District 6, kept everyone happy by scooping up Snow Cones for the hundreds of Saultites who packed the venue.

Local municipal election candidates working the crowd included Ward 1's Sandra Hollingsworth, Michele McCleave-Kennedy and Derek Pearce, as well as Ward 3's Winona Hutchinson and Ward 4's Tim Marsh.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "Today, thanks to generations of labour activists, Canada's workplaces are safer, more equitable, and more just. We honour the dedication and determination of the labour movement, and continue to stand with workers from coast to coast to coast."

In Toronto, Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Smokey Thomas said his union is bigger and stronger than ever been, ready to challenge his province's new Conservative government including Doug Ford's plan to make cannabis available in private stores.

"It's bad for our youth, it's bad for communities, and the only people who will benefit are a few Conservatives who have ties to would-be cannabis retailers," said Thomas. "Selling cannabis in publicly run stores is the most rational plan for Ontario, we should just say no to Doug's."

The themes of this year's Labour Day event in Sault Ste. Marie were "Pharmacare for Everyone" and "Buy Canadian."