Protesters rally outside Cambridge MPP’s office as Fighting Ford demonstrations sweep Ontario

Posted: April 27, 2026

(April 26, 2026) By: Victoria Silva McGuire, CambridgeToday.ca

(Note: The Ontario Health Coalition’s protest to stop hospital privatization rally, held in Kitchener, is mentioned in this article)

Car horns could be heard all along Water Street on Saturday in support of the protesters lined up in front of MPP Brian Riddell’s office.

It was the location of just one of the 55 Fighting Ford protests that took place all across Ontario on April 25.

The province-wide protest was organized in response to the many cuts that the Ford government has made to different sectors such as healthcare, education and provincial budgets, all issues local protesters spoke about during Saturday’s event.

Jill Nielsen was at the protest with her husband John chanting and waving their signs in unison. She said she feels like the current premier is not caring for the province.

“So many things that he is ruining about our area and the country. For me it’s mostly environmental stuff and the students, not supporting schools. But it is all about money and I just hate that. I think we are just going to be screwed if he keeps going”, she said.

Her husband, John shared his wife’s disappointment and frustration,

“He didn’t want safe injection sites close to schools cause it might harm them but he has no trouble putting alcohol in grocery stores near the same schools. I also think he says one thing and does another. He said I will protect the Greenbelt and then he started cutting into the Greenbelt, selling it to his developer friends and then he got caught and he said, oh oh yeah okay we will stop now”.

Mandalay Mcculloch is a secretary at a local elementary school. She explained how she came to Saturday’s protest for all of the students in her school who are currently struggling from the cuts to local education. She said there is a lack of staff causing many students to fall between the cracks and not be given the proper support they deserve.

“Schools are a safe place for these students so it’s important that we have the proper staff to take care of them and to give them guidance where there might not be guidance at home. It’s just sad to see the state of the schools right now,” Mcculloch said.

Another protest in relation to the Ford government happened in Kitchener-Waterloo by the Ontario Health Coalition.

That protest was in response to the increased investments into healthcare privatization while public hospitals continue to have ongoing cuts and deficits. They focused on bringing awareness to the provinces increase in private contracts which in turn takes away needed care from the public.

This issue was also at the forefront of protesters’ minds in downtown Cambridge.

Elaine Doe said that coming to this event was important to her so more people would become aware of the issues that both the sector and workers in healthcare are facing on the daily.

“I do home care, community care and keeping people out of hospital is a really important place to be at this time. This is what we need to do”, she explained.

“We need to get money on the ground and support our PSWs working in the community so we can keep the hospitals free for medical purposes only. I think it is a really important place to be. Our loads are getting heavier and heavier.”

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