Toronto
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Thousands of Occupy Toronto protesters marched on Yonge Street to city hall Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations since it formed in October. From Communists to Ron Paul supporters to Anarchists, everyone was there.
Digital Journal has reported recently of the eviction notices given to the Occupy Toronto protesters at St. James Park. However, hours later, a court issued an injunction and the final decision of whether or not they can leave will be made sometime Monday morning.
In response to the City requesting the demonstrators depart from the premise, Occupy Toronto held a massive demonstration as part of their Day of Action on Saturday. More than 2,000 individuals marched from St. James Park to city hall.
However, the route varied. Originally, organizers stated during the General Assembly that they were going to be marching on King Street to Sherbourne Street to Queen Street to city hall.
Police officers told Digital Journal that the march broke off into two groups. Majority of the crowd marched from the park to Yonge Street north towards Dundas Street. It continued west to Bay Street and then finished at city hall.
Throughout the march, chants of “This is what democracy looks like,” “Hey hey, ho ho, Rob Ford has got to go” and “We are the 99 percent” broke out and were echoed from King to Queen Streets.
Numerous signs and banners were carried throughout the protest: “Evict the 1%,” “Toronto says no to Ford agenda,” “Will to ungreed,” “No to capitalism | Long live socialism” and “It is the message not the messenger.” Also, surprisingly, the libertarians were represented during the march as two gentlemen held a “Ron Paul Revolution” banner.
“We’re going to take back this city and we’re going to evict Rob Ford,” said one individual who spoke at the Yonge and Dundas intersection. “We’re not going to let him evict ideas; we cannot evict an idea whose time has come... This is a revolution for change... It’s us that stand up against the antics of these financial terrorists. And we all gotta do is say, ‘No!’ We do not consent!”
Unions and social assistance representatives from Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Canadian Auto Workers joined the demonstration and delivered speeches in front of city hall at Nathan Phillips Square.
Digital Journal caught up with New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and candidate for the federal party leadership, Peggy Nash, who commended the protesters for their dedication and called Saturday’s events “important.”
“I think it’s an important day for people who want to stand up for greater equality in our society,” said the Parkdale-High Park MP. “You know, when they want to shut down libraries in Parkdale on a Sunday that’s wrong and I’m glad people are standing up and speaking up about it.”
She also briefly commented about her run for the NDP leadership in which she said: “It’s going well and very exciting.”
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