Protesters rally against Doug Ford in St. Catharines during provincewide day of action

From health care to education, a lot of people are feeling fed up with the current direction at Queen’s Park with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

It’s not just one crowd, it’s four corners filled with voices. From every side of the Glendale Avenue intersection in St. Catharines, protesters lined up the streets today, joining a province-wide “Fight Ford” day of action.

For those in attendance, the turnout is a reminder that they aren’t alone in their frustration.

“I mean, look around, I’m surrounded by so many people that are fed up with this,” said Dan Stanikowski, Welland resident.

One of the loudest grievances centered on the handling of heath care.

This rally builds on weeks of local demonstrations – led by residents from Fort Erie fighting to save their urgent care centre. Liz Benneian, chair of Biodiversity and Climate Action Collective Niagara, says she knew the moment had come to scale up the fight.

“When I heard that there were a group of women who had been here for the last three weeks protesting the closing of the urgent care centre in Fort Erie, I said to them, I’m gonna bring the troops,” said Benneian.

As a result, hundreds of protesters showed up. Climate groups and community organizations joined the protest, turning this into a broader call for change.

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“The number of conservation authorities are being reduced and the amount of control by the provincial government is being increased. So we’re just a little bit afraid that it’s going in the wrong direction,” said a local resident.

That direction includes a controversial new law announced earlier this month, one that would shield the premier and cabinet from freedom of information requests.

Critics say it could block access to records like cell phone call logs, sparking questions about transparency.

“There must be something wrong. What are you trying to hide, Doug?” said Benneian.

But the concerns extend beyond the office records to the classroom.

Following recent student walkouts across the Niagara region, many are protesting changes to OSAP, shifting funding ratio from mostly grants to 75 per cent loans.

“We have kids in university that are barely able to get there with the OSAP. And any more cuts and they’re just gonna have a lifetime of debt. And that scares me,” said another local.

From health care to OSAP cuts, the grievances at the protest are broad but the message is singular.

St. Catharines is just one of more than 30 cities across Ontario today turning local street corners into political battlegrounds.

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