Around 100 Windsor-Essex residents joined thousands across Ontario in community protests on the weekend, targeting the provincial government's privatization of health care services and other recent decisions. The demonstration took place in front of the office of Windsor–Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
Health Privatization Concerns
Patrick Hannon, co-chair of the Windsor-Essex Health Coalition, criticized the privatization trend, stating, "The privatization is killing a health care system that has slowly been cut for the last 10, 20 years." Hannon highlighted that the province spent $950 million in the past year on for-profit agencies to address hospital staffing shortages, which he attributed to chronic underfunding of the public system. He noted that staffing agencies "cost up to three times as much as if we would just pay a decent wage to the staff in the hospitals."
In response, MPP Andrew Dowie said the province faces "significant health human resources pressures, particularly in rural and northern communities," and emphasized efforts to build a stable workforce so hospitals rely less on agency staffing over time. He added, "Locally, hospitals have told me directly that they are not using agency nurses. The Ontario Government supports strong guardrails and transparency for agencies, including reporting on fees, billing, and pay practices."
Private Clinics and Surgery Backlogs
Protesters also voiced opposition to the province's announcements of nearly $300 million for private health care clinics to address surgery backlogs. In June 2025, the province allocated $155 million for 57 new private clinics offering MRI scans, CT scans, and endoscopy services. In December, an additional $125 million over two years was announced for four new private orthopedic surgery clinics to reduce wait times for knee and hip replacements.
Hannon raised concerns that private clinics avoid high-risk patients, leaving them in the public system. "The problem with the private clinics is that anybody with complications, such as diabetes, or any other issues that would complicate their primary case, private clinics won't take them, because they're too risky," he said. "So that leaves all of the risky patients to still stay in line at the public system, and the private system is draining staff from our public system."
Freedom of Information and OSAP Cuts
Local protesters also expressed opposition to the Ford government's recent cuts to post-secondary student funding (OSAP) and changes to freedom-of-information laws. Windsor MPP Lisa Gretzky highlighted the importance of FOI, stating, "When it came to the Green Belt scandal, that was uncovered because of freedom of information." The protest underscored broader discontent with government transparency and education funding.
The event was part of a provincewide day of action, with similar protests occurring across Ontario. Demonstrators called for the government to prioritize public health care, restore OSAP funding, and maintain robust freedom-of-information protections.
