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The Occupy movement comes to Toronto's Bay Street
The Occupy movement comes to Toronto
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As Torontonians fed up with a financial system that benefits “the elite 1%” prepare to converge at the corner of King and Bay streets Saturday for an open-ended protest, residents will be watching to see whether the amorphous movement takes root as it has south of the border.
OccupyTO was designed to run in conjunction with the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, which began last month in New York and have since spread around the world, with occupations scheduled to kick off in a host of other cities this weekend. Inspired by the Arab Spring, the movement, which comes at a time of global economic turmoil, aims to draw attention to the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Organizers of OccupyTO say their goal is to “stand in unity with the rest of the world to seek and work towards drastic changes to economic systems that are destroying our economy, social fiber, and environment.
“We are, through entirely non-violent means, sending a message to the financial sector worldwide that banks exist to serve us, not the other way around,” states a message on occupyto.org, urging members of “the 99%” to rise up.
About 10,000 people have clicked “like” on the OccupyTO Facebook page, though it was unclear how many would actually show up Saturday. Organizers did not respond to multiple interview requests.
The protest is scheduled to kick off with a rally at King and Bay streets at 10 a.m., followed by an announcement of the location of the “Occupation Zone,” which was being kept under wraps until the last minute to prevent “interference” by police and the city.
With last year’s G20 summit and associated fallout — including a violent rampage by a small group of Black Bloc protestors and the largest mass arrest in Toronto’s history — still fresh on the city’s mind, police say their main goal Saturday is to ensure demonstrations remain peaceful. Spokesman Mark Pugash would not confirm details of the security strategy or how many officers would be monitoring the event.
“We have put together a plan. The two goals are to protect public safety and facilitate a peaceful protest,” Mr. Pugash said. “We have to plan for a variety of contingencies.”
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CAW throws support behind growing Occupy movement
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Unions are offering their support to the Canadian version of Occupy Wall Street, giving a boost to the nascent movement as activists prepare to begin their own demonstrations against corporate greed and inequality.
Canadian Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union, and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada have all endorsed the movement and said some of their members will take to the streets on Saturday.
“We are encouraging people to participate in peaceful demonstrations,” CAW president Ken Lewenza said on Friday. “The issues being fought on Wall Street and this weekend on Bay Street are issues that we have been talking about for quite some time.”
Activists say they will gather in Toronto on Saturday to highlight the gap between the wealthy few and the rest of the world. Hundreds of similar events are planned to begin in cities around the world on Saturday.
Mr. Lewenza said he doesn’t know how many people from the union will attend, but he sent a note to CAW Locals asking members to show up in force.
Canadian Union of Public Employees president Paul Moist said the union hasn’t been formally asked for support, but is working through provincial federations of labour to support the gatherings. “It seems to me that it’s natural that labour would support folks that are raising issues about the growing gap between haves and have-nots,” he said.
At a Toronto planning meeting on Thursday that attracted more than 250 people, an organizer said he had asked for the support of several local unions.
“The labour unions want to help us out,” the man said. “Do we want to accept labour’s help?” The group, which makes decisions by consensus, clapped and cheered.
In New York, a group of powerful unions joined Occupy Wall Street last week, bolstering demonstrators’ numbers and amplifying their message. And in Canada, the BC Federation of Labour announced earlier this week it would lend formal support to protesters in Vancouver who plan to convene near the city’s art gallery on Saturday.
But some protesters and union leaders have expressed concern that the labour movement’s participation could overpower other protesters.
Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, has encouraged union members to attend the event, but said the OFL won’t send busses or get involved in organizing. “We’re very conscious about barging in and saying ‘the labour movement is here and we’re taking over,’ “ Mr. Ryan earlier in the week. “We want to be respectful of their decision-making process.”
On Friday, the OFL called on Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack and other police forces to respect protesters’ rights and avoid using confrontational policing tactics such as tear gas, mass arrests and rubber bullets.
“I’m hoping that there will be a different set of orders going out to the police officers to be mindful of what happened at the G20 and how quickly it can all get out of control,” Mr. Ryan said, referring to last summer’s protests during the G20 summit.
Toronto Police say they have a plan for handling the demonstration, but declined to offer details. “We have a consistent record of facilitating lawful protest and we would certainly like to do that again,” spokesman Mark Pugash said earlier this week.
Two unions said they will each bring a busload of activists to the Toronto event. CUPE Local 966, which represents Region of Peel municipal workers, will drive union members and community activists to the protest Saturday morning, and the SEIU, which represents healthcare workers in Ontario, is sending a bus of its own to the event and said they will offer food, cooking facilities and first-aid training.
Farshad Azadian, who is part of the Toronto protest’s loose group of organizers, said he’s glad to see the unions taking part.
“I’m sure many of the young people and workers involved are enthusiastic and encouraged by this,” he said on Friday. “It tremendously strengthens the movement.”
Other organizations taking part include the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Council of Canadians.
Occupy Toronto protesters are meeting on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the corner of King and Bay Streets. They say they will set up camp in a public space nearby, but have so far declined to release the location out of concern police will block the area off in advance.
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To be snarky and sort of being hard on Toronto.... I noticed there was a 'get trained for the proteset: $25' and then the meeting place.
 The revolution isn't free!
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10-15-2011, 06:28 AM
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