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A look back at the Occupy Toronto movement

The 40-day protest has come to an end but not without leaving its mark on our city. As a helpful guide to our coverage of the Occupy Toronto movement, we’ve assembled a timeline retracing Toronto’s days of occupation.

October 4: Hazy plans emerge on the web for a local version of the Occupy Wall Street protests. There are no set demands or clear goals established at this point, but we know they’re coming.

October 8: A week before it’s set to begin the movement is off to a shaky start, as activists at planning meetings have a hard time agreeing on which techniques and philosophies will be most effective in their efforts to overrun the city’s financial district.

October 14: Activists at the “people’s assembly” develop strategies for dealing with what they fear will be an aggressive police response (mass arrests, crowd control). Around 200 people gather on the lawn outside the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education to prep for the following day. Arguments abound as to why protesters should occupy Bay Street, but all share a common theme: it’s time to stop coddling the super-rich.

October 15: Nearly 1,500 protesters take to the streets in the first official day of the Occupy Toronto movement. They march through the financial district to St. James Park where they plan to stay indefinitely. NOW is there to capture the scene in this photo gallery.

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October 16: The movement evolves quickly as St. James Park, a normally quiet area of Toronto, becomes populated with hundreds of activist setting up tents, playing music, and holding meetings. At this point, no one knows how long the movement will last, but it’s already generated some indelibel images.

October 17: Occupy Bay Street, a breakaway strand of Occupy Toronto, pickets the Toronto Stock Exchange. The crowd is small, but protesters pass the time by chatting with the police, setting the stage for the good relations between occupiers and authorities that would be maintained until the group’s eviction a month later. Back at St. James Park, the energy’s buzzing: see what it looked like.

October 20: It can be difficult to be heard when trying to speak to a large crowd without a proper microphone. The ‘people’s mic’, frequently scoffed at by oustiders as time-consuming and silly, turns out to be a useful tool for communication amidst a large group of activists.

October 22: Sometimes, silence is loud. Nearly 150 activists march from St. James Park to the financial district in complete silence bearing flowers. In another protest the same day, activists head to city hall to target the mayor. The rally takes place at Nathan Philips Square where those involved scribble messages in chalk describing what the Occupy Toronto movement means to them.

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October 24: Over a week in, the movement already seems to have accomplished so much in so few days. Despite less-than-massive turnouts at its recent rallies it’s evident that Occupy Toronto has established a working community unto itself. The real question, however, is whether or not it will survive.

October 27: Anonymous issues a threat claiming the hackivists are planning to erase the Toronto Stock Exchange from the internet on November 7. The threat is revoked shortly afterwards, with the explanation that many members the 99% do not agree with the operation.

November 1: Pictures can say a thousand words but videos can say it better. Here’s a look inside the events of Occupy Toronto, the faces involved, and the people’s mic in action.

November 4: How do you sustain an occupation? Seems as though the role falls into the hands of those around the protesters. Surrounding restaurants send over meals as local residents deliver supplies like gloves and fruit. The glorious message at St. James seems to be that citizens will supply.

November 10: The generosity continues at St. James as the community around the occupation continues to help wherever they can. Councillor Gord Perks pays a visit to the occupation and tells protesters, “You give us hope.” The occupiers remain peaceful in their tight-knit community despite rumblings of discontent from city hall.

November 12: The mayor and some local residents are growing tired of the occupation. And even though city hall is threatening to evict occupiers from St. James Park the following week, the movement has few strategies to resist besides fleeing to the west side of the park that is owed by the church, whose officials have been supportive of the movement thus far.

November 15: City hall makes good on its threat and serves Occupy Toronto with eviction notices. The deputy mayor says it will be difficult to avoid arrests but hopes the protesters will go peacefully. What effect the eviction will have is anyone’s guess. Even though the camp’s days appear to be numbered, it looks like the ideas it embodies are here to stay.

November 16: The eviction notices were prompted largely by local businesses complaining about the effect the occupation has had on their profits. Not every nearby entrepreneur is upset at the protesters however, and an informal survey of local businesses shows that some have enjoyed having Occupy Toronto around. With enforced removal drawing closer, occupiers try to determine who among them is willing to go to jail.

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November 18: Occupy Toronto takes the city to court, seeking an injunction against eviction with the help of an eloquent lawyer named Susan Ursel. A decision on whether the eviction violates occupiers’ right to peaceful protest is expected over the weekend, but then delayed until Monday morning. Later the same day, Occupy Toronto campers join professors, pundits, and former mayor David Miller at a panel discussion at the Design Exchange, an indication of the just how much the global Occupy movement has grabbed the attention of leading thinkers.

November 21: The court rules in favour of eviction, finding that Occupy Toronto’s presence in the park restricts the access of the rest of the neighbourhood, and Ford puts his foot down by reiterating his demand that protesters leave the park. The occupiers’ plans to use the church property as a sanctuary also come to a screeching halt as church officials withdraw their support as well.

November 22: Despite getting the green light from the courts, police don’t move quickly to carry out the eviction order after the judge’s ruling. Occupiers spend a tense night in the park as police patrol cars maintain a watchful eye but keep their distance. Take a look at our video coverage of Occupy Toronto’s General Assembly that took place the previous day in preparation for the eviction.

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November 23: Finally, just before dawn on Wednesday, busloads of police officers arrive and surround the park. After advising everyone to leave (an order nobody heeds), officers stroll into St. James and calmly start the work of dismantling Occupy Toronto’s tent city. Despite fears of a G20-style crackdown by the police, protesters and the authorities cooperate and the 12-hour operation ends without violence. Eleven arrests are made, but nobody is hurt. Rob Ford declares that the 40-day protest is over, and he intends to keep it that way. Eviction doesn’t stop the movement however, and activists come together mere hours after the police raid to discuss how they will continue to deliver their message.

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