Toronto’s Days of Action

Margaret Hancock was the co-chair of the Metro Days of Action Committee and was instrumental in mobilizing huge protests in Toronto in October of 1996.

Between 1995 and 1998, a broad coalition of labour unions and grassroots activists from across Ontario organized a series of strikes and protests to fight back against Conservative Premier Mike Harris and his "Common Sense Revolution." Collectively known as the Days of Action, this historic movement included early demonstrations by feminist, LGBTQ2+ and disability rights activists who led the Embarrass Harris coalition, and a continuing alliance between the groups the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and Anti-Racist Action.

Toronto’s Days of Action is a living digital exhibit that invites visitors to contribute materials from the historic Days of Action protests against Ontario Premier Mike Harris. Curated by Simon Vickers and Lilian Radovac, the materials reflect a ground-up perspective on the movement that privileges the participation of grassroots community organizations and emphasizes an intersectional approach to activist history. We welcome new contributions to the exhibit, which can be uploaded at alternativetoronto.ca.

Alternative Toronto is a digital community archive project that is documenting the city’s activist and countercultural communities of the 1980s and 1990s. The project is directed by Dr. Lilian Radovac, who is currently an assistant professor (CLTA) at the Institute of Communication, Culture Information and Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Alternative Toronto has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology and was the recipient of a 2019 ActiveHistory.ca award for exemplary practices of active history.

For more information, and to contribute go to Alternative Toronto.