At the front of the crowd dozens of demonstrators that left a pre-rally at Sidney Smith Hall on the University of Toronto campus to protest Premier Doug Ford’s proposed OSAP changes, drummers were keeping rhythm with the crowd's chants as they made their way to Queen's Park and the temporary fencing separating them and Queen's Park's front door by several metres.
The March 24 rally was a follow-up to the one that happened earlier this month in the immediate aftermath of the announcement that the Ontario government intended to change OSAP's grant proportion from 85 per cent to 25 per cent.
Leading the way on the march were Cyrielle Ngeleka, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS), and CFS executive member Omar Mousa.
On top of her work with CFS, Ngeleka is also a student at York University taking international studies and economics.
She says students have talked to her about their worries on being "able to afford next semester's worth of education" or "whether they'll be able to even finish school or apply to a master's program."
In between the chanting, they introduced several speakers to the crowd.
Ontario Federation of Labour's Secretary-Treasurer Ahmad Gaied and Executive Vice-President Michael Hamilton, Humber Faculty Union President and Professor Milos Vasic, and Leader of the Official Opposition Marit Stiles were a few of the notable names.
All shared the same message with the crowd: Solidarity between workers and students is the way to deal with Ford.
In the crowd, there was evidence of this solidarity with Maryanne McMullen, a patient care advisor and health equity advocate.
She said the rally was about "bringing people together for one common goal."
When asked why solidarity is so important at this time, Ngeleka said "decisions that we're seeing from the provincial government are not isolated decisions. We're seeing impacts across all the sectors.”
