With green and white signs in hand, francophone communities throughout the province protested Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent cuts to French-speakers services.

Ford ignited a firestorm after he announced his government was eliminating the French Language Service Commissioner's Job and shelving Liberal plans to create a French University, as cost-cutting measures.

“It’s a bit of ignorance that’s what I think,” said Orillia resident Stephane Marcroix. “He doesn't know how many we are and how we have influenced the culture here in Ontario.”

Francophones gathered in numerous locations across the province Saturday afternoon including Doug Downey's constituency office in Barrie and Jill Dunlop's office in Midland; neither was available for comment.

Comments made by York-Simcoe MPP and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney earlier this week now seem out of step with reality.

“I can assure you the premiere is totally in touch with Franco-Ontarians,” said Mulroney. “And the francophone community in this province.”

French is the mother tongue of more than ten thousand people in Simcoe County and five-hundred thousand province-wide.

Many of those protesting today are families with children in French Schools and Educators.

“They worked hard to have the rights and to have the services,” says former principal Harold Robert. “The law is there. We are protected by the law for services in French and that’s it, that’s what they want.”

Ontario's Ombudsman will assume the commissioner's job, but protestors say a deeper understanding of the issues is needed.

“We’re told go back to your province some of us are not from another province this is where we're from,” said Barrie resident Nathalie Fournier. “We are told that often by English speakers that don’t really understand the cause; it’s going to be really important to have somebody or an office specifically looking after our rights.”