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May 27 Community Rally

Mass Turnout Despite Overcast Skies

Citizens turned out in large numbers at all three marshalling locations, and a crowd estimated by various sources to be somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 people marched to, and rallied at, the Ford Test Track Park.

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Participants followed the three designated march routes before merging at the intersection of Drouillard and Seminole, just before entering the Ford Test Track Park.

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Children joined event organizers on the stage, while the crowd heard some energetic speeches from an array of community, business, farm and labour leaders.

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Politicians of every stripe from our region participated in the event. All three area federal MPs, all three area provincial MPPs, Windsor City Council and the Mayor, along with numerous municipal politicians from the county.

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For More Rally Photos...

Please view the additional May 27 Photo Albums that were submitted by some of the community rally participants.

or

Visit "Flickr" to view a selection of photos that have been posted under the title of CAW Media's Windsor March slideshow.

News Coverage Of The Rally

• Windsor Star - May 28, 2007 - Thousands march to support labour; Call for action (external link)



• Windsor Star - May 27, 2007 - Mass turnout at Our Jobs rally; Labour organizers estimate 38,000 people converged on Ford Test Track (external link)
• Also see: Windsor Star Multimedia Gallery. (external link)


• CTV - May 27, 2007 - CAW leader promises to fight for auto jobs (external link)
• Also see: Auto workers rally for their industry. (0:26 Offsite Video)
• Also see: CAW president Buzz Hargrove on rally. (3:40 Offsite Video)


• CBC - May 27, 2007 - 30,000 rally in Windsor over auto industry job losses (external link)

Farming Community Voices Support

Ladies and Gentlemen, this letter of support comes to you from Essex County Local 14 of the National Farmers’ Union of Ontario.

Working women and men of Windsor - Essex , we farmers stand shoulder to shoulder with you today and every day. We can give ample testimony of the impact of unfair trade practices by other countries notably in our case, the United States. The U.S. farm bill is a predatory trade practice. It protects their farmers and drives Canadian farmers out of business. Canadian governments both provincial and federal have ignored us and let the Americans devastate our families, devastate our farms and devastate our communities.

Currently, both provincial and federal governments are in negotiation for the new agricultural policy framework which will if properly designed, alleviate the impact of U.S. trade practices. I appeal to the members of Parliament and the provincial members of Parliament here today to act as advocates for us. Now is the time to come to the plate and make right the mistakes created by past farm policies which continue to exist in this country. The present federal government promised to scrap the CAIS program which was supposed to give us equity with the Americans. In truth, it has been a disaster witnessed by the previous 5 years which have been the worst in Canadian farm income history. The American farmer has continued to move forward while the Canadian farmer goes further into debt watching subsidized American grain being dumped into our Canadian market place. My friends, no country can exist without a domestic food supply. The farm policies of Canadian governments both provincial and federal, are putting our domestic supply of safe, high quality food at risk. One only has to remember the recent melamine contamination of dog food to appreciate the risks that are involved. It could have just as easily contaminated our food supply.

Again, I tell you quite truthfully that we stand shoulder to shoulder with you. You do not want to journey down the same trail that Canadian farmers have travelled these past 5 desolate years. Thank you.

Terry Byrne - Spokesperson : National Farmers’ Union - Local 14, Essex