Protesters attempt to disrupt Ford’s speech at Ontario PC convention
CBC
Protesters attempted to disrupt Premier Doug Ford’s address at the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party convention Saturday evening.
As Ford spoke to the audience, a handful of protesters suddenly stood up with flags, shouting out questions about compensation for Grassy Narrows. A CBC News reporter at the event said they were promptly ushered out of the room.
Grassy Narrows First Nation, a northwestern Ontario community, has faced decades of mercury contamination. The poisoning has impacted an estimated 90 per cent of the population of Grassy Narrows, also known as Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek.
Four individuals caused “a disruption” at the political event shortly after 6:30 p.m., Sgt. Erin Cranton with the Ontario Provincial Police told CBC Toronto in a statement.
Two other individuals caused a second disturbance outside the building and all six were removed from the property with help from Toronto police and event security, he said.
The six protesters were released unconditionally and charges were not laid, Cranton added.
“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, and everyone also has the right to a lawful, peaceful and safe environment,” Cranton said.
“When an individual’s behaviour reaches a threshold where it becomes unsafe, threatening or disruptive, police are required to intervene to restore order and ensure the safety of the public and those under police protection.”
Protesters at the event are not part of a group or associated directly with Grassy Narrows First Nation, said Mark Calzavara, who was one of the six protesters on Saturday.
He said they are a collection of concerned individuals in Toronto trying to get support for the community and publicly call on Ford to provide compensation for people impacted by the mercury poisoning.
“We keep trying to get Doug Ford to answer these questions, and he refuses to. So that's what brings us to places like his convention to try to get him to pay attention to the issue,” he said.
“Grassy Narrows was a thriving community, fully employed in the fishing lodges in the area and able to eat the fish from the water that was their staple diet, and everything was taken away from them all at once.”
Contamination of northwestern Ontario’s English-Wabigoon River dates back to the 1960s and 70s, when the pulp and paper mill dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the water.
But a 2024 study from the University of Western Ontario found mercury contamination in the river had worsened due to ongoing industrial pollution.
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