Occupy Toronto protesters are primed to take over Bay Street

TORONTO — A group gathered at dusk near the University of Toronto Thursday, more than 200 strong, to plan an occupation of Canada’s biggest financial district, in the style of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who have taken over a New York City park for the past three weeks.

Occupy Toronto will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at King and Bay streets. The group will then head to an undisclosed location in the financial district to set up camp.

Similar events are planned across the country that day, with the events in Toronto and Vancouver expected to be the largest.

Occupiers want to send a message to the financial sector but, much like the occupiers in the U.S., the Toronto group doesn’t have a central message or demands — at least not yet.

What the Toronto group decides to say will be determined by consensus during a General Assembly — the consensual decision-making process the activists will use — after the occupation begins.

While there’s no message as yet, there are a few rules. “Can we please commit to a space free of racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise oppressive language?” asked Kevin Konnyu, a photographer who volunteered to facilitate Thursday’s General Assembly.

As he spoke, someone passed around boxes of Tim Hortons doughnuts and people shook their hands in the air, a General Assembly signal that means they support what is being said.

Though Konnyu and two other volunteer facilitators led the group on Thursday, there is no central spokesperson and no one will speak to the media on the group’s behalf. Individuals are free to speak to reporters, but are not supposed to speak to police or other authorities.

Throughout the two-hour meeting, speakers stressed the importance of non-violence. One man from the medic committee, who identified himself as a registered nurse named George, said medical volunteers are preparing to deal with pepper spray and tear gas.

“In regards to whether we anticipate any violence — the record of the G20 speaks for itself,” the crowd was told.

During the meeting, a half-dozen police officers on bicycles watched from the sidewalk.

The group is grassroots, but it is also organized, with committees for logistics, food, outreach, communications, legal, media, medical and facilitation reporting on their work.

Antonin, a man who spoke on behalf of the food committee, said the group will prepare up to 1,000 meals each day.

Access to meals, he said, will keep the occupation going. “I think that will sustain the occupation.”

There is no set date for when the occupation will end.

Origin
Source: iPolitico