Power of Many takes issue with Ontario's future, Ford government (4 photos)

A group of community activists and union representatives, disenfranchised by the Ontario government, gathered at the corner of Great Northern Road and Second Line Wednesday to hand out pamphlets to motorists and pedestrians.

The local protest was part and parcel of the Power of Many movement – coordinated and spearheaded by the Ontario Federation of Labour – which staged a province-wide day of action April 17.

“This budget, we got an overview of it, but it doesn’t say what programs are going to be affected,” said Tara Maszczakiewicz, regional vice-president for Region 6 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). “There’s no details in the budget that we can see, and that’s concerning for us.”

The pamphlets passed around yesterday display a steadfast opposition to a series of moves by the Ford government, including changes to health care, education and public services.

For Maszczakiewicz, whose union represents the interests of a number of public service workers locally, there are fears that the ongoing funding cuts by the province will trickle down to public service workers.

“We really aren’t sure exactly what’s going to happen, but the general thinking is we’re very concerned about the budget, and specifically because of the work we do in public services – like the teachers, and like our health care folks,” shed told SooToday. “We’re worried about the people that we work with, and the impact that this budget is going to have on them as well.”

Maszczakiewicz says that she met briefly with Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano about a week-and-a-half ago in order to discuss Bill 74 – an omnibus health care bill that would see the current health care system in the province change dramatically, and could lead to privatization down the road.

But that’s just one of the issues the group of community activists has with the current provincial government – a government that has slashed funding and jobs since assuming power.

“I don’t think people are aware of how deep the cuts are, and how unplanned the cuts are in the sense of none of us know exactly what this is going to look like, and the government hasn’t seen fit to put that in its actual bill,” Maszczakiewicz said. “So we’re hoping to get the public to kind of look a little bit – maybe think a little bit – about what’s going on, do some reading on their own and educate themselves about what’s happening with this government - and speak up if they need to.”

The locals involved in the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Power of Many movement are encouraging the public to contact Premier Doug Ford or MPP Ross Romano about their concerns regarding the direction of the province.