The occupy protesters arrive at crossroads
Hamid Adem
Staff Writer
Protesters of Occupy Toronto have made St. James Park their home since October 15, but the five-week sit-in has finally been legally ordered to leave the grounds.
Following the footsteps of Occupy Wall Street and its global counterparts, Toronto’s own occupation in St. James Park aimed to protest against corporate influence in society.
However, Occupy Toronto protesters decided to have a rally—titled “Evict Rob Ford”—and marched to Nathan Phillips Square November 19 before the final eviction decision was made.
From there, the marchers divided into two groups and took different routes to city hall, one making its way along Yonge and the other along Sherbourne.
Gaetam Heroux, who was teaching a workshop at the free school before the rally, says “the world is in crisis.”
“People are fighting today for the essentials to survive, they need income and housing and education to live,” says Heroux, adding that students should “become aware of the larger issues of the world that are going to have an effect on their standard of living.”
Throughout the entire march to city hall, Toronto Police officers were on foot and bicycles, stopping traffic on the way to ensure the safety of the protesters.
“We are here to facilitate everyone,” says Sherazar Shad, a police officer who is taking his Masters at York. “The police services are here to make people feel safe. If that means stopping traffic to help facilitate a peaceful protest, we are here to help.”
Though Officer Shad declined to comment about his opinion of the protest, he noted that the group has been very civil.
“They have been a very peaceful bunch,” he says. “We haven’t had to deal with them.”
And while many protesters have already moved out of the campsite since the eviction notices were distributed, others insist they will hold their ground.
A protester going by the name “Ronny” says he joined the occupation about a week after it started. He is one of those in charge of security in the camp, and already he sees the St. James Park group as a community.
“I see this as a community, everything is shared, everyone is helping each other out and coming to each other’s needs,” he says. “There are going to be bad apples that we have to deal with, but there are bad apples everywhere […] instead of spending money on ridiculous things, we should be spending it on [the] betterment of our people—send people to school.”
Now that the eviction notices have been legally authorized, we will see how the community reacts.
Ronny had one thing to leave us with: “If they come for [my tent], they’re going to have to take me with it.”
