The Associated Press reports, “Authorities in New York City on Friday postponed the cleanup of Manhattan plaza where anti-Wall Street protesters have been camped out for a month, prompting cheers from a crowd that had feared they would be evicted.”
“Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said the owners of the private park, Brookfield Office Properties, had put off the cleaning. Supporters of the protesters had started streaming into the park early Friday, creating a crowd of up to 700 chanting people. A confrontation between police and protesters, who had vowed to stay put through civil disobedience, had been feared. Boisterous cheers floated up at the postponement and protesters began discussing whether to make an immediate march to Wall Street, a few blocks away.”
“Han Shan, 39, of New York, a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street, said it was clear to everyone that the cleaning plan in New York City had aimed to shut down the protest. ‘There is a strong commitment to non-violence, but I know people are going to vigorously resist eviction,’ he said.”
When news of the planned eviction first broke last night, the Council of Canadians helped spread the word to its supporters across the country and encouraged participation in the petition campaigns launched by Avaaz.org, LeadNow.ca and MoveOn.org. Thank you to everyone who responded to this urgent call to action last night.
Take action on Saturday!
CBC reported yesterday that, “The number of Occupy Canada cities for Saturday’s rallies has grown to at least 15, while the international total is now more than 1,500. …As of Thursday noon ET, Occupy Canada’s Facebook page garnered more than 12,000 ‘likes’ and more than 17,700 people were ‘talking about this’. Offshoot Occupy@ cities include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, several other cities in B.C., Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Edmonton, Calgary, Saint John, Moncton and St. John’s.”
The Council of Canadians encourages you to participate in the Occupy gatherings. At this point, we know members, chapter activists, Board members and staff will be ‘occupying’ at least 7 cities – Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, St. John’s, and Nova Scotia.
If you will be participating in additional occupations as a Council supporter, please let me know (bpatterson@canadians.org) and I’ll update this list by 4 pm ET. Also, please be sure to take a photo at your Occupy site tomorrow and send it to us as well.
Please also note that Occupy Montreal will take place in Square Victoria, a town square at the intersection of Beaver Hall Hill and McGill Street starting tomorrow. The Indignez-Vous! conference and Council of Canadians annual general meeting starts just a few days later on October 21-23 at the Marriott Chateau Champlain hotel at 1 Place du Canada near Station Bonaventure. It’s less than a 7-minute walk (about 600 metres) from Station Bonaventure along Rue de la Gauchetière O to Station Square Victoria. At this point, plans are emerging for Council members to march from the conference/ AGM to Square Victoria on both Friday and Saturday. More details on this very soon.
The Council of Canadians first expressed its solidarity with the Wall Street Occupation on September 23, just a few days after it started. For more on that, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10686.
