The Globe and Mail reports, “If you thought Occupy Wall Street had disappeared, think again. After months of internal wrangling and low morale, the campaign is staging a return to the spotlight. Sept. 17 is the first anniversary of the movement that took over a slice of downtown Manhattan for two months, spawned offshoots in cities from Toronto to Hong Kong, and coined its own slogan to direct attention to inequality: ‘We are the 99 per cent’. …How the campaign evolves from here is an open question. It will depend in part on deliberations taking place Monday in New York and in cities across the United States and Canada.”
What’s planned for that day? “Early Monday, some of them plan to don corporate camouflage – suits, dresses – and, together with hundreds of other protesters, move as close as they can to the New York Stock Exchange. There they will sit until the police tell them to leave, or they are forcibly removed or arrested.”
Additionally, an Occupy Toronto media release states, “Occupy Toronto will be joining hundreds of Occupiers who have been walking across the country since May Day to converge on Parliament Hill on September 17, the one year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. Occupiers and supporters will gather at Confederation Park at 1:00 pm and march to Parliament Hill to ‘Stop Harper and Demand Real Democracy’. The group will hold a rally with speakers, followed by a Peoples’ Parliament.”
More than 25 Council of Canadians chapters participated in Occupations across the country, many deeply involved in this work. At our Indignez-Vous! conference this past October, chapter activists, Board directors, and staff visited Occupons/ Occupy Montreal several times to demonstrate our solidarity. To see a 2-minute video by activist-filmmaker Paul Manly on this, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiQ6CTtJDSM. In this video you will see the Council marching to the Occupons Montreal site, a short interview with chairperson Maude Barlow, and drumming by Board member Chief Garry John of the Seton Lake First Nation in British Columbia/ Coast Salish Territories.
Most recently, Council of Canadians vice-chairperson Leo Broderick attended the ‘Occupy the G8’ protests near Camp David, Maryland this past May.
The full Globe and Mail article on the one-year anniversary of Occupy is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/occupy-everything-again/article4546605/.
