Jacqueline Perlin
Assistant News Editor
Protesters braved the rain and cold Friday, October 15 as they gathered in the financial district for Toronto’s take on Occupy Wall Street.
Occupy Toronto saw approximately 2,000 demonstrators from all walks of life. Their collective hope was that their
message against immense corporate greed and inequality in the financial sector would be heard by the government.
Alex Grant, a protester at the demonstration, explained that Occupy Toronto is essentially the byproduct of an international movement against capitalism.
“It started in New York and it spread all over the planet today. […] The 99 per cent, the vast majority of the people, aren’t being served by the capitalist system while a very small minority are getting richer and richer off our backs,” said Grant, before joining in the chants of the protesters as they marched up Bay Street towards St. James Park.
Occupy Toronto is part of a global movement that has spread to 951 cities in a total of 82 different countries since the first protests. Although the movement continues to be leaderless, the Canadian publication Adbusters played a large role in publicizing the original September 17 protest in New York.
Sandy Hudson, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario (CFS-O), noted that many students had come to oppose exploitation in the education system.
“People are very frustrated with a system that continues to exploit people that are middle-class and low-income and continues to benefit the wealthy,” she said. “We know that in Canada, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing, and people want to see the money they’re putting into a system benefit them and not just go to a few […] at the top.”
Undergraduate student Rashin Alizadeh was at the demonstration calling for the government to institute free education.
“I just don’t think it’s fair that we have to pay for so much to be eligible to apply for an average job,” said Alizadeh. She
explained that she had incurred a massive amount of debt in her last year of studies. “We can’t just leave this with the people in the suits.”
It was exactly this anti-corporatism which compelled the crowd—comprised mostly of youth, media, and the occasional political figure including interim Liberal party leader Bob Rae and MP Olivia Chow—to engage in meditations, drum circles, and political discussions throughout the demonstration. The unmistakable smell of pot lingered in the air.
Daniel Roth, one of the volunteer facilitators of the demonstration, pointed out Saturday’s event is just the beginning—and it’s bound to be monumental.
“I think when we look back at 2011, we’re going to see that the world rose up to say ‘we want freedom, we want justice.’ […] This is the beginning of an occupation of downtown
Toronto and in city centres around the world,” said Roth.
Armed with tents and sleeping bags, protesters vowed to camp out indefinitely until they saw significant changes.
