Occupy Toronto once again held park turf on Tuesday, May 1, though the occupation was planned as a 24-hour affair instead of a St. James-type long-term presence.
As part of a May Day celebration and a harbinger of a summer of resistance, nearly 2,000 gathered at City Hall, where protesters took turns making speeches, singing chants and banging drums amidst a sea of banners. As always in Occupy affairs, a wide range of causes were represented, from indigenous sovereignty and federal immigration reform to the Quebec student strike, opposition to austerity and an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Then demonstrators, accompanied by an extraordinarily heavy police presence, marched west to Alexandra Park. At 9 pm, a smaller group snaked their way through rush-hour traffic, periodically stopping to block intersections on their way to their secret re-occupation destination, which turned out to be Simcoe Park, directly north of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front.
“The idea is that we’re occupying the heart of the beast,” said organizer Sakura Saunders.
Protesters were covert about the location, fearing police would erect barricades around the site.
Toronto bylaws prohibit being in public parks overnight, and at first it was unclear whether police would allow protesters to stay. The Parks Department decided to waive enforcement of the bylaw, however, and the cops said they wouldn’t clear the area as long as tents and other structures weren’t erected.
Most participants, whose numbers by that point had dwindled to fewer than 200, agreed to the compromise, but a multi-faith group tried to erect a tent, and three members were arrested.
Other clergy who weren’t taken into custody said they had been trying to set up a place of worship in the park. “Our intent was to put up a sacred space,” said Reverend Alexa Gilmour. “We have values in common with folks who are part of the Occupy movement, and we’re taking a stand with those people and with those values.”
Organizers are calling for more warm-weather Occupys in strategic places. But they will, no doubt, be short-term affairs.
bens@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/benspurr
