Windsor-Essex Health Coalition hosting rally against healthcare privatization

Posted: September 28, 2025

(September 27, 2025) By: Meagan Delaurier,  AM800 CKLW

Several rallies will be held across Ontario today, including in Windsor.

The Ontario Health Coalition’s local chapters are holding rallies with the aim of spreading awareness of what is happening with public hospitals and healthcare.

The group says their main concern is Ontario’s move to allow private cataract surgery clinics, and expanding it to some surgeries for hips and knees, as well as additional medical diagnostic tests that are typically provided at hospitals.

At the end of June 2025, the Ford government announced $270-million in funding for private clinics to deliver surgeries and diagnostic tests, claiming it will improve wait times.

The rally in Windsor will be held at the corner of Tecumseh Road and Ouellette Avenue – in front of Jackson Park – starting at 11 a.m. on Sept. 27.

Patrick Hannon, co-chair of the Windsor-Essex Health Coalition, says the public healthcare system has continuously been defunded and under attack of privatization.

“This is a focused effort on the government specifically since 2003, Bill 60, Your Health Act, which privatized and allowed private clinics in hospitals to operate without public scrutiny.”

He says privatization is not the answer.

“The answer to our healthcare is proper public funding, proper public oversight. So the rallies that we’re putting forward is to make people aware that their public healthcare is under attack, and to stand up and fight for their public healthcare while we still can.”

Hannon says they want to raise awareness.

“This is a crisis being created by the current government. They’re going to try and tout the solution will be a private system, when in fact we’ve seen in Quebec and B.C. when they try are privatize the public health system… it ends up costing more, for less services, and worse patient outcomes.”

Hannon says they’re expecting between 50 and 100 people to take part in the Windsor rally.

Other municipalities in Ontario will be hosting rallies today, including Mississauga, Sarnia, Owen Sound, and others.

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