If there's one combination that brings back strong images of recent Toronto history, it could be this one - anti-poverty protestors and Queen's Park.

Previous encounters with those demonstrating against government policies on the poor have resulted in violence there in the past. And that's why police made their presence felt at the Legislature Wednesday, as a large group of protestors converged on the area to remind all the major candidates their voices need to heard before the election.

A crowd estimated at about 400 came to the Park with several demands, including a 40 per cent increase in welfare payments, a higher minimum wage, lower tuition fees for students and more affordable housing. One speaker called the plight of the homeless in Toronto "our Katrina", a reference to the devastating hurricane that hit New Orleans in 2005. 

"It's a system that has forced people into homelessness," said Toronto nurse Kathy Crowe. "In New Orleans it was a lack of infrastructure to prevent a disaster, in Ontario it's the cancellation of building affordable housing in our province."

A woman in a wheelchair noted she sometimes has to make the terrible choice between eating and paying her rent - and she barely has enough for either. "It means we choose between battling an inaccessible world or being isolated in our own home when we actually have homes," she told the crowd. "It means we have little or no choice about where to live. It means we choose between food and rent. Lack of funding means some of us can't eat, drink, communicate, or pee as often as we need to." She cited numbers claiming fully one half of all employed disabled people earn less than $15,000 a year, following that with a glance at the Legislature and the word "Shame!"

What's behind all the loud accusations? "We're hoping that the city and the government and those who are running to be in government understand the importance and urgency of poverty issues in this city and province," explains Rachel Huot, a spokesperson with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

The afternoon-long demo created more traffic chaos around University Ave., which was already gridlocked from a taxi protest held earlier in the day. But that kind of disruption was just what those behind the gathering were hoping for. "The fact is that poor people have their lives disrupted all the time, and struggle every day to make ends meet," Huot relates. "And, so I think the more serious that people understand the issue, the better."

She warns whoever gets elected on October 10th that if her group's interests aren't addressed, they'll be back out front to remind them that the poor aren't going away.

The protest was loud - but ultimately peaceful, with most realizing the leaders and the MPPs who might hear them are all out on the campaign trail and far away from Queen's Park.