A man dressed up to represent Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty poses during a protest in front of the old Maple Leafs Gardens where the Ontario Liberal leadership convention is being held in Toronto, January 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
TORONTO — As several thousand ballots were cast to elect Ontario's next Liberal leader, tens of thousands of protesters clamoured outside the convention Saturday eager to send the newly crowned premier a message.
Those protesters, largely teachers supported by workers from a number of sectors of organized labour, crowded outside Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
They marched, sang and chanted protesting Bill 115, which imposed collective bargaining agreements on public school teachers earlier this month before being repealed last week.
"You cannot just trample democratic rights in this province and think things will be back to normal when you repeal the bill that did that,” said Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario president Sam Hammond.
