The Community EditionKITCHENER JOINS PROVINCE-WIDE CODE RED PROTESTS
The Ontario Health Coalition hosted Code Red, a series of protests called to make a visible show of public opposition to the privatization of healthcare. The Kitchener protest ran on Oct. 4 on the public sidewalk near the new CTV offices on Sportsworld Dr. Ontario Health Coalition’s primary goal is to protect and improve the public healthcare system and have a Kitchener-Waterloo faction.
“Many people in Ontario aren’t aware of what’s happening before the government is really attempting to dismantle our public health care system,” Jim Stewart, chair of the Waterloo Health Coalition, said.
According to a report by Health Quality Ontario, total public spending on healthcare was $4,125 per person in 2016 and has been steadily declining over the years. This is the lowest among all provinces, and lower than the Canadian average by $4,487 per person.
“The people of Ontario do not want a US-style healthcare system that’s going to cost them thousands of dollars out of pocket, because this is what’s actually happening right now,” Stewart said.
In 2023, on average, insured patients were billed $1,177 for out of province services. The Ontario Hospital Association said that hospitals in 2024 ended last year in a $360 million deficit. In 2025, hospitals need an additional $1 billion in funding to keep pace with population growth and inflation.
“We are embarking on a series of petitions, not just to the federal government, but to the provincial government to tell them that this [privatization] can’t occur. We’re going to have a day of action very soon to try to get members of Provincial Parliament to pay attention to this issue,” Stewart said.
On Oct. 29, the Waterloo Health Coalition will host a legislature watch event for the Legislature Galleries. Their goal is to advocate against a two-tier Medicare program and stop patients being charged thousands of dollars out of pocket for surgeries and diagnostic tests.
“If we want to have a strong society, we need to build a foundation of educated, smart young people through our education system, and we need healthy people through our public health care system,” Stewart said.
Stewart wanted to increase public awareness towards the slow privatization of many healthcare services. Ontario had more than 1,100 emergency department closures in 2024. On the other side of the spectrum, private clinics are being funded at a higher rate than that of inflation.
“The privatization plans are moving ahead, and so we wanted to make sure that people can pay attention and think and investigate and read for themselves,” Lorna Aberdeen, a Waterloo Health Coalition member, said.
Dozens of participants congregated with signs of support towards a public healthcare system. Protesters had signs that read “honk if you oppose privatization” which received many honks in support. Aislinn Clancy, MPP of Kitchener Centre, was also in attendance and was one of the speakers.
“My hope is that we return to what we had. I would like to see the privatization stop, or at the very minimum, that we don’t put our public funds into it,” Aberdeen said.
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