Economist Mike Moffatt from Western University has tallied up what Doug Ford has proposed to cut. The total is a whopping $22 billion that Doug Ford in cuts from provincial revenues over three years. At the same time, Mr. Ford promised to end hallway medicine. These two sets of promises are contradictory.

Mr. Ford has no mandate whatsoever to cut and privatize health care. But given the pro-private anti-public health care people he is surrounded with, there is widespread concern that they will try to foment a fiscal crisis and use it to justify pushing through cuts and privatization that would devastate our public health care.

We all know that we cannot take any more cuts. What we urgently need in our province is to reinvest, to rebuild our health care — not cuts and privatization. The best way to protect public health care is to push for what we know we need and to ensure that this government is afraid to cut and privatize health care. We need to set the agenda and make them respond to us.

We know that the people of Ontario are with us. No one wants more cuts. The overwhelming majority of Ontarians oppose health care privatization. We need to mobilize, to make visible the public demand to improve our public health care. We need to inspire people to stand up and make cuts and privatization impossible. We can do this. We have done it before. But we need your help.

Please join this rally – a show of strength is vitally important now.