Sunday, November 20, 2011

Occupy #Toronto waits on court ruling

Judge Brown will rule tomorrow at 9am on the #OccupyTO takeover of  St James Park (the sign above shows the occupy fist and an "I'd occupy that" saying). Meanwhile in front of St James Cathedral a number of people spoke to the media in hopes that if the occupation is found in defiance of the City's bylaws and not protected by the constitution that the Cathedral might provide sanctuary to the protesters. The Church has already stated publicly that they are unable to help the Occupy Toronto movement if the courts uphold the City's eviction order.

Gerald Parker (in white at the microphones, above) who is a member of the St James congregation hopes that the church has been pressured against providing sanctuary and will continue with dialogues with the Church to enter into a partnership.
Homeless former Mayoral candidate Kevin Clarke used his powerful voice to hijack the press conference, dressed sort of like Santa, shouting things like a Christmas present is included in Canada's Constitution. I am surprised after years of yelling on the streets of Toronto he hasn't burned out his voice.
Meanwhile back in the park the tents remain, whether full or mostly empty (probably the latter), the port-o-potties look like they haven't been emptied since they were installed and are getting full. Reports of a stench in the park I think are overrated and overall the park is cluttered but generally clean. Still the protesters are of the semi-professional type ready for confrontation - which may come early tomorrow.

A canopied wagon looking like it was created by artist Gregory Alan Elliott looked pretty cool in the park. It has room inside for one tiny bed and was covered over in old political yard signs and now plastered with Gregory's graffiti artwork, including sayings and a big red heart.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yeah, this was my "covered wagon" creation in support of OccupyTO - I built it because I thought that the weakness of the occupation was its permanence, lacking the ability to move ... It is insulated with 1 inch of styrofoam, and has a candle that vents through a length of dryer venting as a makeshift furnace ... I was glad it inspired some of the homeless occupiers, who talked with much excitement about repurposing wheelchairs for mobile street accommodation ... I think the OccupyTO logistics crew will be using it as a mobile office for further events ... It would be nice to track its history from this point on.
-Gregory Alan Elliott
P.S. Glad that City Hall, the police, residents/businesses and the OccupyTO-ers could all reach apeaceful agreement in the end, but it ain't over, this is just the beginning.

Unknown said...

Yeah, this was my "covered wagon" creation in support of OccupyTO - I built it because I thought that the weakness of the occupation was its permanence, lacking the ability to move ... It is insulated with 1 inch of styrofoam, and has a candle that vents through a length of dryer venting as a makeshift furnace ... I was glad it inspired some of the homeless occupiers, who talked with much excitement about repurposing wheelchairs for mobile street accommodation ... I think the OccupyTO logistics crew will be using it as a mobile office for further events ... It would be nice to track its history from this point on.
-Gregory Alan Elliott
P.S. Glad that City Hall, the police, residents/businesses and the OccupyTO-ers could all reach apeaceful agreement in the end, but it ain't over, this is just the beginning.

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting the pics of my wagon... it will be used for future OccupyTO events, or it'll be given to some homeless guys who really enjoyed sleeping in it... it is insulated and has a small candle-powered furnace.
Gregory Alan Elliott
www.twitter.com/@greg_a_elliott

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