Cornwall, ON — A group of residents gathered in Cornwall on Saturday outside the office of MPP Nolan Quinn to voice their opposition to the Ford government, joining a wave of similar demonstrations taking place across Ontario. Armed with handmade signs reading “Ford Fails Ontario On Purpose,” “Stop Selling Out Our Future Doug!!” and “Nolan Voted to Hide the Truth,” protesters lined the sidewalk in front of Quinn’s Pitt Street office on a sunny spring afternoon.
The protest was co-organized by Louise Mignault, working alongside fellow organizer Diane Marshall as part of the province-wide Facebook group Fighting Ford (Protest Doug), which boasts over 4,000 members and has been coordinating demonstrations in communities across Ontario.
A Pattern of Undemocratic Governance
Mignault (see her letter to the editor) was clear that Saturday’s rally was not about any single grievance, but a response to what she described as a systematic erosion of democratic accountability under the Ford government.
“We’re protesting cuts to education. We’re protesting lies about things like the Green Belt,” she said. “We’re protesting a pattern of governance that is highly undemocratic.”
She pointed specifically to Bill 97 and recent changes to Ontario’s freedom of information legislation as particularly alarming developments.
“It strips the public and the media from their ability to hold this government to account,” she said.
Mignault was also deeply critical of the secrecy surrounding how government decisions have been made, describing the conduct as “cloak and dagger stuff” and saying it was “obviously not the actions of honest people.”
She summed up her view of the Ford government’s priorities plainly: “Ford fails Ontarians on purpose. This isn’t a bumbling guy who makes mistakes periodically. This is somebody who is systematically changing the system so that the people who have a lot of money make more at everyone else’s expense.”
Transparency at the Forefront
For many in attendance, a recent revelation added fresh urgency to the protest. Reports that the Premier and other MPPs had conducted government business on private phones — and that those same MPPs subsequently voted to keep the communications secret — drew particular anger from the crowd.
Phyllis Sarrault, a local activist who attended as an individual, said that issue was what brought her out on Saturday above all else.
“No transparency. Everything secretive,” she said. “That’s my main reason to come out here today and protest with these people.”
Sarrault, who has also been heavily involved in the local bridge housing project, said she opposes virtually everything the Ford government has done but called the handling of the deleted communications particularly egregious.
“All his texts and things on his private phone that were done for business — and how they all voted in favour of keeping them secret,” she said. “No transparency at all.”
Why a Saturday?
The decision to hold the protest on a weekend outside Quinn’s office — knowing the MPP would not be present — was a practical one, Mignault explained.
“It possibly allows more people to take part in the protest,” she said. “That’s what I would think.”
Calls for Greater Participation
Both organizers and attendees acknowledged that while the turnout was encouraging, it still doesn’t fully reflect the depth of dissatisfaction they believe exists across Cornwall.
“We still have a mentality — I see this a lot in Cornwall — of ‘somebody else is going to do it for me,'” said Mignault. “There’s a lot of stuff going on that could be so much better, and yet this government chooses not to do what is best for people.”
Sarrault said her approach to mobilizing people is to make the issues feel personal rather than abstract, reaching out directly to her network on Facebook.
“I say to them: don’t just come because of what’s happening. Come for yourself,” she said. “If you’re a senior on ODSP, look what’s going on. If you’re a student, you should be here. If you’re in healthcare, you should be here. It’s your pick — there’s pretty much something for everyone.”
She also had pointed words for those who stay home and complain rather than show up.
“If you stay at home and just complain about it, you’re no better than them not being accountable,” she said. “You can’t just complain. You need to come out, honk your horn, hold up a sign.
The protest was organized in coordination with the province-wide Fighting Ford (Protest Doug) Facebook group. Organizers say more events are planned across Ontario as pressure on the Ford government continues to mount.
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