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Bay Street blues

A small offshoot of Toronto’s Occupy movement picketed the Toronto Stock Exchange Monday morning. The action wasn’t sanctioned by the larger group and some feared a protest in the heart of the busy financial district might lead to violence, but in the end came off without incident and there were even friendly exchanges between police and protesters.

The protest was called by Occupy Bay Street, an organization separate from Occupy Toronto that began mobilizing independently in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. It began modestly with only four people at Bay and King by 8:30 am, but later they were joined by roughly 15 more protesters from the larger Occupy Toronto group who are camping out at St. James Park, and moved to the Stock Exchange.

Occupy Bay Street’s web site says “Even though we do respect all of the work of Occupy Toronto, we feel that there needs to be more done. A proactive approach needs to be taken, that means we need to go where the problem is, Bay Street.”

“I think that Occupy Toronto’s approach is good,” said protester Peter Poulos Monday morning. “I just think that maybe there needs to be another approach at the same time.”

The split between Occupy Toronto and Occupy Bay Street represents competing visions for the nascent movement. Two days after the movement launched with thousands of protesters marching through downtown on Saturday, activists have set up camp out of sight of the financial district, and have yet to stage another major action. Instead they are focusing on having discussions and creating infrastructure for an indefinite sit in.

For some, the movement isn’t moving fast enough. At Occupy Toronto’s general assembly Sunday night, which was called to discuss what activists wanted to get out of the daily meetings, one protester shouted “Let’s talk about something important!” Organizers are urging patience, and point out that it took the Occupy Wall Street group three weeks just to come up with a set of demands.

Monday’s Bay Street protest was announced at Sunday night’s meeting, but Occupy Toronto organizer Bryan Batty warned that because it had not been endorsed by the general assembly, the protest risked getting out of hand. “There could be unfortunate incidences because we won’t be able to help with our marshall committee,” Batty said.

It turns out he needn’t have worried. Instead of having a confrontation with the police, protesters had conversations. Officer Howie Page, the liaison officer for 52 Division, approached the group as they stood outside the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“We’re not going to be in your way, we’ll just be on the outskirts,” he said. “I’m going to work with you guys today. If you need anything just let me know. All we want to do is make sure that everybody’s safe.”

The protesters cheered as Page walked back to the group of police watching the action from down the street. The exchange was a far cry from the running street battles between police and protesters at the G20 summit last year, and the force appears determined to put on a friendly face when dealing with the Occupy movement.

After speaking with Park, the protesters walked around the block, trailed by police on bicycles and a fleet of reporters. They made their way back to the stock exchange, singing songs and talking to passersby. Someone yelled “Back to the park!” and they headed back to the camp site.

Occupy Toronto is planning a march to Ryerson University at 12 pm on Monday, followed by a general assembly meeting at 2 pm.

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