Attn: Assignment Editor

TORONTO, May 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ontario Health Coalition announced the results of a mass community-run referendum, where Ontarians were given the opportunity to have their say on if they would like their public hospital services to be privatized to for-profit hospitals and clinics. A massive pile of ballots were delivered to the government this morning, as 400,000 Ontarians voted on this critical issue with an overwhelming 98% of voters opposed to the privatization of Ontario’s public hospital services.

The results of the cross-province referendum are as follows:

• Total Votes: 386,068
• Spoiled Votes: 341
• Yes Votes: 7,001
• No Votes: 378,726

“We are unalterably opposed to the gutting and dismantling of our public hospitals and the privatization of them,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “This is the beginning of what will be a relentless campaign to stop them from privatizing our public hospitals. We have no choice because once we lose them, I don’t know how we will get them back. It will be very difficult if not impossible to get them back.” 

“They can dismiss, make fun, and suppress the actual ability of the people to vote. We know they are worried about this. We have spoken to over a million Ontarians, person to person in this process. That is the power of this process. 1 in 29 Ontarians over the age of 16 voted in this referendum. Every Ontarian knows someone who voted in this. If they try to ignore this, we will ratchet it up. We will not stop until they stop.”

For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director 416-230-6402