Town Hall Gives Political Voice To Londoners

The following is from the Council of Canadians London Chapter:

People want public health care, reasonable rent, not military spending and corporate profiteering

[London, ON] — A room in a downtown library was filled to capacity last night in London yesterday to combat political movements fueled by billionaires and disinformation, aiming at instead building unity around progressive solutions to Canada’s cost of living crisis. 

“Across Canada, people are being crushed under the soaring cost of living and a crumbling health care system. While the average person bears the brunt, Canada’s billionaires have pocketed an extra $78 billion since the pandemic began, and that’s leading to a lot of anger and frustration,” says Norah Fraser, Co-Chair of the Council of Canadians London Chapter. “Perversely, conservative politicians are riding this wave of anger, insecurity and anxiety to power, while offering no concrete solutions to make life affordable.”. 

People across Canada already face a cost of living that grows faster than their stagnant pay cheques. 

“Workers and retirees in London have worked their entire lives to contribute to this community, and now their pay cheques aren’t stretching to cover impossible rents and skyrocketing grocery prices,” says Patti Dalton, president of the London and District Labour Council. “It’s no secret that these costs are so high for no reason other than greedy CEOs and bosses.” 

Today’s town hall focused on real solutions to the cost of living crisis: pushing governments to prioritize people and communities, rather than corporate profits made through price gouging, increased rents, and other ways of extracting wealth from communities. Participants also revealed that the solutions on offer by current politicians, like temporary GST rebates, aren’t cutting the mustard. 

“People in London and across Canada don’t need the massive increases in military spending demanded by the new Trump administration. Spending which would inevitably lead to continued cuts to health care and education while the impacts on vulnerable populations are, at best, ignored. They don’t want to fund the business of endless global warfare,” says David Heap, an activist/organizer with People for Peace London and the Co-Chair of the London Chapter of the Council of Canadians.

This town hall was a part of a cross-Canada effort by the Council of Canadians to build support behind a set of demands for progressive solutions to today’s economic and social crises.