News and Views

Rock the Vote

Torontonians took their issues to the candidates, to the forums and to the streets this fall as Ontario prepared for the provincial election on October 10. Ligia Hendry captured some of the issues in the days leading up to the Liberals’ second majority win.

Left photo: A poignant reminder – from begging for change to demanding change at the Vote Out Poverty Rally, October 1, 2007 outside Massey Hall. Right photo: George Smitherman, Ontario Minister of Health and Long Term Care, reviews his notes before Stepping Up for Toronto’s Communities, a provincial election forum on issues of concern to Toronto’s non-profit community sector on September 25, 2007.

Left photo: At the doors of the Vote Out Poverty; Right photo: Audience members vie for attention

Disability Action Movement Now (DAMN 2025) protesters symbolically block access to the MacDonald Block, an Ontario Government building that houses the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Community and Social Services among others.

Left photo:At the Anti-Poverty Rally, September 26, 2007 at Queen’s Park, a man protests the insufficient allowance for food on Ontario Works and the indignity of needing a doctor’s note for the special dietary allowance. Right photo: Backing the Daily Bread Food Bank’s Hungry City initiative to stop hunger in Toronto, an attendee waits for the Stepping Up Forum to begin.

Left photo: Ryerson students and staff fasted for a day to prove a point. The “Get Hungry for Change” movement raised funds for the Daily Bread Food Bank on October 1, 2007 at Ryerson University. Right photo: A woman demonstrates the reality of inadequate social funding at the DAMN 2025 protest, September 26, 2007.

The youth get involved by protesting the lack of affordable housing in Toronto at the Anti-Poverty Rally. The average price per square foot for a condo in Toronto is $371. At that rate, a person on social assistance could afford to rent 11 square inches a month. A participant demands immediate action for the disabled at the Disability Action Movement Now (DAMN 2025) protest opposing the government plan to delay a barrier-free Ontario until 2025.

 

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