Ford Fest<\/a> is coming to town, and we are making sure our voices are heard,\u201d the Scarborough Environmental Association said in a post on Instagram.<\/p>\nThe grassroots organization provides community services such as birdwatching, clothes swaps, and art programming for free, encouraging members to meet their neighbours and enjoy their community.<\/p>\n
The organization is rallying citizens together for a protest against the Ford government from 5-9 p.m. on the same day, where they will be handing out leaflets and picketing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need your help to poster and leaflet. Bring a friend,\u201d reads the post. \u201cLet\u2019s stand together for Scarborough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protesting to \u201chold the provincial government accountable\u201d<\/p>\n
Fizza Khalid is a prominent Scarborough-based community organizer and environmental activist, as well as the association\u2019s co-founder. She told Now Toronto that their plan to protest at Ford Fest is to hold the provincial government accountable for policies they say have worsened affordability, weakened public services, threatened environmental protections and reduced public consultation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Khalid says that many members of the organization have experienced the impacts of these policies firsthand, pointing to concerns including cuts to OSAP, growing class sizes, pressures on the health-care system and the ongoing affordability crisis. She argued that these issues are making it harder for people to access education, secure housing and maintain a reasonable quality of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen where if he doesn\u2019t get his way, he will find another way around,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there is so much opposition around his cuts to OSAP, health care, and we\u2019re seeing him intervene in like Toronto politics as well,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s just like enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khalid also cited environmental concerns, criticizing the Ford government\u2019s approach to development, citing the Greenbelt controversy and Bill 5 as examples of what organizers see as a pattern of prioritizing developers over communities and natural habitats. While acknowledging the need for home development to combat the housing crisis, she questioned whether certain construction projects should take precedence amid broader social and economic challenges.<\/p>\n
She explained that the alliance is concerned about the long-term impact of Ford\u2019s government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe changes that he\u2019s going to make are not going to be ended in like his term; we\u2019ll see generations affected by this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not protesting Ford Fest itself<\/p>\n
Khalid shared that Ford Fest is a good high-profile opportunity to engage voters and draw attention to the real-world impacts of the government\u2019s decisions, but they\u2019re not protesting the event itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that the people attending Ford Fest are not the ones pushing the policies,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the protest is also not directed at Ford himself, but rather at the policies his government has implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing against him as a person, but at the same time, what he stands for and what he pushes, that is the main issue,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love a good fundraiser, I love a good carnival or barbecue, but at the same time it is, it\u2019s Ford Fest, like it\u2019s something to promote him. We understand that, it\u2019s pretty blatant,\u201d Khalid continued.<\/p>\n
Khalid described Ford Fest as a highly visible public event that provides an opportunity for residents to raise concerns directly and engage in conversations about the impacts of government decisions. She emphasized that the demonstration will be peaceful and focused on dialogue rather than confrontation.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, organizers say the goal is to remind elected officials that public accountability extends beyond election day. Alongside the protest, they plan to encourage attendees to stay politically engaged by contacting their representatives, learning more about provincial policy decisions and continuing to advocate for issues affecting their communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Khalid says that she hopes the demonstration will amplify concerns they believe have been overlooked and send a message that many Ontarians want a greater voice in decisions that affect their daily lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to know The Scarborough Environmental Association is organizing a protest during Ford Fest on June 19 at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4079,31057,31058,48],"class_list":["post-78038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-doug-ford","tag-ford-fest","tag-scarborough","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}