What does it take to start a popular movement? It takes a common cause for people to rally behind, but it also needs a starting point. In recent years, people have become frustrated with the increasing gap between rich and poor and a seemingly endless series of financial crises. For them, a starting point for political activism was the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began on September 17th, 2011.
As the unofficial Occupy Wall Street website's "About" page states, the protests were inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, which many people have referred to as the Arab Spring. A group called Adbusters from Vancouver, British Columbia, issued a call for action on July 13th, 2011. On September 17th, protesters gathered in Liberty Square in Manhattan to demonstrate against corporate greed and exploitation of the poor. Concern over these issues was not isolated, as the following events have shown.
Occupy Wall Street Spreads Over the Continent
Over the next weeks, the movement gained popularity. According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to other cities in the United States, such as Boston and Los Angeles, with the Boston event attracting three thousand people. Then, on October 15th, the movement crossed the northern border into Canada. In Toronto, the protests were planned for Bay Street, home of Canada's financial district.
Although Canada has not suffered as much from the global financial crisis as other countries, the article states, many young Canadians are still very concerned about their future. The Occupy protests are a way to draw attention to the growing inequity between the rich and poor in Canada and around the world. Major cities like Toronto and Vancouver were the focus of the Canadian protests, but events took place in smaller cities like Winnipeg as well.
According to a CTV article on Occupy Winnipeg, the protest on October 15th drew about four hundred people to a square in front of the Toronto Dominion Bank building on Portage Avenue. They gathered near the historic Exchange District, home of Winnipeg's financial institutions, where people carrying posters joined a marching band in a peaceful protest. The group's aim was to draw attention to the greed of the world's powerful people and the oppressive conditions under which many of the poor live and work. Later, the group marched to the Manitoba Legislature several blocks away, and a small group set up camp in Memorial Park across the street from the seat of government.
Occupy Protests Peacefully Highlight Canadians' Concerns
Although some people feared violent confrontations between police and protesters, the Occupy organizers hoped that the protests would remain peaceful, according to the CTV article. The purpose of the event was to highlight issues such as " poverty, tar-sands pollution, and exploitation of Aboriginal people," as the article states.
Aboriginal poverty is an especially difficult issue, since poverty rates among First Nations people are especially high. According to a report by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, twenty-five percent of Canadian Aboriginal children live in poverty, and more than half of the adults are unemployed. Cases of Third World diseases like tuberculosis are much more common than in the rest of the population, and many people in remote communities lack access to basic medical and dental care. The situation will likely not change until politicians and the country's wealthy citizens take an interest in really making a difference.
If the Occupy Canada protests are successful, they might make the country's future very different from its current situation.
Sources:
CBC.ca. "Occupy Winnipeg Attracts 400."
CTV.ca. " Protesters 'Occupy' Parks in Cities Across Canada."
Occupy Wall Street. "About Us."
Public Service Alliance Of Canada. "PSAC Statement on National Aboriginal People's Day."
Vancouver Sun.com. "Occupy Wall Street Protests Spreading to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver."
Susan Huebert - My name is Susan Huebert, and I'm a writer and editor from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I've always enjoyed words, and I graduated with a Bachelor ...
