An unofficial province-wide referendum is underway as a novel way to oppose budget cuts to hospitals.
The Ontario Health Coalition organized the volunteer-led Stop Hospital Cuts Now Referendum asking Ontario residents to vote yes or no to the statement, “Ontario’s government must stop the cuts to our community hospitals and restore services, funding and staff to meet our communities’ needs for care.” Businesses with steady foot traffic were asked to host voting stations outside their stores on Saturday, May 28th. Hundreds of ballot boxes are located in communities across the province.
The ballots will go to Queen's Park in hopes of sending a message to the Liberal government to restore hospital funding. The Ontario Health Coalition says this is the ninth consecutive year of real-dollar budget cuts to Ontario's hospitals.
