Join OCAP and community allies…
Fight Rob Ford — Stop city cuts!
Contingent for the Community Day of Action in Toronto
Saturday, April 9, 2011
12:30 p.m. @ the corner of Church Street and Dundas Avenue
(going together to join the rally at Dundas Square which starts at 1:00 pm)
I’ll be there covering the event for rabble.ca, you can follow me on Twitter @krystalline_k
**Bring banners, signs and flags!
On Saturday, April 9, OCAP and allies will be joining the ‘Respect Toronto’ Day of Action as a grassroots community organizations contingent. We are joining under the banner ‘Fight Rob Ford — Stop City Cuts!’
In the few short months since Ford took over at city hall, already we have seen the cutting of services in the 2011 budget like shelter spaces and transit access for poor communities, as well as moves towards privatization of garbage collection and Toronto Community Housing (TCHC).
Under Ford, poor communities will see a deepening of the crisis of poverty in this city:
– Currently, there are approximately 10,000 people homeless, and emergency shelters are too often overcrowded and unable to provide for people in the way that they should.
– There are over 76,000 people on the waiting list for social housing(TCHC); that list is a shameful 10 years long, with existing TCH units now being sold off.
– There are 18,000 families on the waiting list for subsidized child care.
– The newest stats show that reliance on food banks is up 28% since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008.
As bad as the present round of cuts will be, they are only the first round. Ford has made clear he intends to contract out services to low-paying employers and take a knife to vital community needs. His regime is the local expression of an austerity agenda that people are facing and resisting across the world.
We are calling on workers facing the loss of their jobs and communities the loss of basic services to unite and stop the Ford agenda. Similar to infamous Tory Premier (and friend of Ford), Mike Harris, we should not take a ‘wait and see’ approach with the current city regime. Ford’s agenda is clear; cuts are being made, the erosion of services is already happening, and privatization is on the horizon. Ford and everything he stands for must be defeated.
Join us! Saturday, April 9 @ Dundas and Church: March together, defeat Ford!
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
www.ocap.ca / 416-925-6939
——————–
Community Day of Action in Toronto
1 p.m. Saturday, April 9, 2011 Rally at Dundas Square, followed by a march to Toronto City Hall
What’s at stake?
– Services and programs that serve every resident and community, such as libraries, child care and recreation centres
– TTC serving all neighbourhoods
– Environmental leadership in challenging climate change
– Keeping public control of public services, such as waste removal
– Safeguarding vital public assets, such as housing
– Good jobs and the fundamental rights of workers
Take action!
On Saturday, April 9, 2011, rally at Dundas Square (Yonge & Dundas) and march to Toronto City Hall to defend our communities, public services and good jobs. Together, we can stop cuts, closures, user fees and privatization that will hurt every person and every neighbourhood in Toronto. Let’s speak up before it spreads to every city and town in Ontario.
Join us on Facebook and contact us for more information. [email protected]
Endorsing organizations:
ACORN Canada
Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
CUPE Ontario
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP)
Good Jobs For All Coalition
Greenpeace Canada
NOW Magazine
Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)
IATSE
International Women’s Day Committee
Latin American Trade Unionists Coalition (LATUC)
Toronto and York Region Labour Council
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee
Toronto Women’s City Alliance
… more to come!
*Email your organization’s endorsement to [email protected]
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