The Grey Bruce Health Coalition and the Grey County Farmland Protection Committee are joining forces to host a silent protest at the Markdale Hospital grand opening on September 14.
"When we heard that Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones were coming to Markdale during this time, very high stress in the healthcare industry and in relation to the Greenbelt, we felt that we wanted to have a presence there to demonstrate that we have concerns," said Brenda Scott, co-chair of the Grey Bruce Health Coalition.
This event was chosen simply because Ford and Jones will be present.
"We decided to make it a silent protest because we want to make the point that our issue is not with the people of Markdale, it's not even with this new hospital," she said. "We welcome it. These people have worked hard for 20 years to get this hospital built and they need thanked for that. But we still do have a premier and minister of health that we feel we need to communicate our concerns to them about the way things are being handled."
Scott said they hope Ford and Jones take away that people are upset and want to see change, especially to the areas that are the most concern.
"Healthcare and the Greenbelt are two of those issues," she said. "As we've been going around promoting other events for healthcare concerns, we found many people are concerned about both."
Members of the public are invited by the Grey Bruce Health Coalition and the Grey County Farmland Protection Committee to join.
"It's intended to be silent and peaceful and I don't think anyone would need to worry about their safety if they attend," said Scott. "I think a number of people from the community just want to send a message."
In addition to Thursday's protest, the Grey Bruce Health Coalition is also organizing busses to take people to Queen's Park on September 25 for a rally of the same nature.
"[This rally] is organized by the Ontario Health Coalition," she said. "It's about the healthcare concerns about the hospitals that are closing, services that are closing, and what we know is the government's plan to move very quickly into privatization mode once they get back into session."
She added there will be thousands of people present from across the province. Scott will also be speaking at the rally as the co-chair for a committee on small and rural hospitals.
"We're with the South Bruce Grey Health Center," said Scott. "It's an alliance of four hospitals. Three of them continue to have problems with closures of the ER and 75 per cent of the hospitals that they are responsible for can no longer be staffed full time."
She stressed the need for these rural hospitals, especially as farm season continues and any potential accidents in the area need immediate attention.