Twitpic part 10

So anyways, Twitpic shut down but the photos will continue to live on in Twitter. But here continues the blasts from the past.

Twitpic part 9

So anyways, Twitpic shut down but the photos will continue to live on in Twitter. But here continues the blasts from the past.

Occupy Gardens #Toronto

The vegetable arm of Occupy Toronto planted a small, symbolic garden in the park section on the north side of Queens Park. The Occupy Garden was planted by the People's Pea Garden, without a permit, and the City went in just before harvest and removed the garden. The green contingent made the trek to City Hall to protest the end of their garden and the timing of the removal, coming just before the harvest.

Protester explains he was asked to leave City Hall or face arrest

The group loves edible sayings like 'It's thyme' and in 'In Soilidarity'. Maybe one day their dream of 'World Peas' may come true.

Occupy Gardens in #Toronto

Queen's Park had a little protest going on during the July 28 weekend as some gardeners were planting some vegetables in the dirt in the large park north of the Legislature building. There were plenty of gentle protesters with some banners and some free food as the protested for World Peas during an event called Summer Jam.

The growing collective of plot farmers are taking over small sections of land and planting crops to share with all that are hungry. They celebrated Summer Jam with an edible and musical community potluck picnic in the park.

DOTO 2012: Doors Open #Toronto

#Doors_OpenTO is back during the May 27-28, 2012 weekend with over 135 attractions open to the public for free! The range of available places to visit include some tall ships on the waterfront, historical locations and other architectural, socially or culturally significant properties that are usually closed to the public or would normally charge admission.

The DOTO Doors Open Toronto banner flies at the participating attractions

The Pathfinder steering wheel

Welcomed aboard the Empire Sandy

It is an excellent opportunity to view places that you might never had thought you would see, or to visit familiar places that deserve further exploration. See more of DOTO after the jump.

And the band protested on

The #Toronto 2012 Mayday #May1TO rally and march featured a few musical protesters - including a great drum band called Rhythm of Resistance (in yellow shirts), in addition to the music rocking out of the traveling DJ trailer. The drum band also came with a contingent of dancers that swayed to the pounding of the beats.

See my YouTube video of the band entering the park here.

At Alexandra Park there was also a band playing to help entertain the protesters before they got back out on the street for the re-occupation march.

See more band photos after the jump.

Mayday Protest Kitty

Joining the occasional #Toronto Mayday #May1TO #Occupy dog protester, some with balloons or bandannas, I found a little protest kitten on the shoulder of a protester. He wasn't wearing a mask so I don't think he was Black Bloc or anarchist - I think like the button on the guy's hat, he was an Occupy Kitten.

Pass the kitty chow and down with the tabby!

Tiny little dog with a protest balloon looking like it could carry him away

MAYDAY #Toronto 2012

Hundreds gathered at City Hall as the MAYDAY #may1TO Protest rallys began at 4pm on Tuesday May 1, 2012.  After listening to a few speeches they started the march to Alexandra Park. There were a number of protesters clad in black with face masks, as pictured above, but the march and rally were peaceful.

 They stopped at a few intersections along the way before they poured into the park at Dundas and Bathurst. The police waited patiently at most intersections except at Spadina and Queen where the police moved people out of the intersection with calls of public safety.

Police presence is high, mostly of the bicycle variety. I saw some horse trailers but no mounted police yet - or any riot police. Parked on Bathurst are a couple of paddy wagons, cruisers and motorcycle police. At 9pm the group is supposed to march to some undisclosed location for a 24 hour occupation which will end with no evidence of protest, disembarking the park at 10am to march to the Barrick Gold AGM. They settled for Simcoe Park which is directly across from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Blowing bubbles

Happy dancers with the band Rhythm of Resistance

The leading banner on Queen Street West

Someone gets a police helping hand out of the Spadina and Queen Intersection

See more protest photos after the jump.

Occupy Toronto: Yonge and Dundas

Gregory Alan Elliott's covered wagon has circled Yonge and Dundas Streets just outside of the Eaton Centre as part of the Occupy #Toronto Movement. The lone protest vehicle is taking up valuable religious, black history or entertaining busker space with it's beautiful blue graffiti covered wagon. On second thought it seems to belong there. New signs have been added which say "occupod" and "taste the freedom".

Occupy Toronto Jan 2012 at City Hall

The Occupy #Toronto movement is once again active with a small encampment of approximately ten tents just to the west of #Toronto City Hall near Osgoode Hall and the Courthouse (Provincial lands, not municipal property). They had started setting up the protest location on Tuesday and I thought they might have been forced out when I heard plenty of sirens in the area, but they were still there, enjoying the small amount of snow that was starting to turn the ground white.

I had seen the picture of the group and noticed Gregory Alan Elliott’s blue covered wagon in the group of tents. It is still there, long lasting and sturdy because it was built with election signs which are designed to last longer than the reign of a politician that ordered the signs. No police are visible in the area and the protesters seem to be in a good mood, patiently waiting for the system to change and also trying to keep warm. Approximately ten of them were out and about over the lunch hour, politely greeting pedestrians as they walked between the tents.

A local rag reports that the group have been given a verbal warning to leave they are apparently awaiting written notice of eviction. The group had decided to support the other protesters that were upset over Mayor Rob Ford’s proposed budget cuts and have now outlived that demonstration. I certainly did not think that they would be out in the cold unless they were protesting the cold (which I may do anyway), but Canadians can be very determined.

St James Park - sod it all

#OccupyToronto maybe a small bump in the night, fading from memory as winter sets in and protesting becomes more work than fun. Their lovely camp site and prime real estate restored to the residents, area visitors and their dogs. I am sure that once the groundhog comes out of his hole and spring comes back into town the Occupy movement will swell under the warming sun.

Protesters deface Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation signs with 'No PIGS allowed' and 'No PIGS Bicycling allowed'

Meanwhile back in St James Park the large population of chubby squirrels, protester's tents and walking traffic damaged a lot of the grass. Repair estimates thrown around were $20-60,000. In an era of cost cutting I was surprised that they are going to sod the park - the good news is that the sod and it's installation will be donated by Landscape Ontario , Project EverGreen and the Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario.

The lovely new carpet of sod in St James Park

Landscape Ontario says "There is a huge volunteer effort that will be happening here," says Tony DiGiovanni, executive director of Landscape Ontario. "There will be more than 10,000 rolls of sod and at least 23 dump trucks of soil and an incredible number of people being very charitable."

The beauty of the park is evident before Occupiers took over the green space

Once the grass is green there will only be a few remaining signs (like the signs above) that the protesters lived in the park for some time before they were evicted from the peaceful and natural neighbourhood destination.

St James Park occupied by birds again

Most of the evidence of the Occupy Toronto camp at St James Park is gone, except for some mud and a bunch of tire tracks. Birds and puppy dogs have returned to the park while some people, maybe protesters, have gathered in the gazebo. A pair of pigeons drink from the top level of the fountain. The Bay Street protest was gone by the start of the afternoon rush hour and the homeless have returned to the streets and the hot grates that dot the downtown core.

November 24, 2011 - after the eviction

October 22, 2011 - before the eviction

Occupy Toronto Eviction and St James Park Cleanup

The end of the 24/7 Occupy #Toronto campsite in St James Park was started today and many are pointing out the lack of violence, on all sides, is something that Toronto can be proud of. The police have seen the damage caused by over reactions in recent incidents, from our own G20 adventures, the pepper spraying of sitting protesters at an American University, the tear gas and flash grenades fired in Oakland, and have decided to leave the riot gear and batons in storage while the protesters wanted to maintain their non-violent defiance. A bicycle officer stands beside the crowd on Bay Street during the start of the Occupy Toronto movement on October 15, 2011, in the photo at top, looking remarkably like Julia Roberts studying for a role in an upcoming protest movie.

99% AWE-SOME by Gregory Alan Elliott

This is not the end of protests as twitter is full of plans to continue the Occupy Toronto and Occupy Bay Street movements, good for them. Maybe they can find and broadcast a message that will make the world a better place for both the 99% and the 1%. I think that a protest that relies on confrontation for support is only worthy of a protest against brutality. The protest that relies on aggressive, homeless youth or anarchists to carry the message does not represent the majority of Canadians. 

City of Toronto media release on today's occupation (November 23, 2011; 4:45 p.m. update).

"Just before 7 this morning, City staff entered St. James Park supported by the Toronto Police Service, who asked that protesters cooperate peacefully and remove all tents and structures. They were also asked to refrain from gathering in the park overnight from 12:01 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Our goal today was to remove tents and structures so that the park could be made safe for the enjoyment of all residents. A team of over 100 City staff and 30 vehicles from Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Solid Waste, Municipal Licensing and Standards, Fire Services, Emergency Medical Services, Public Health and Shelter, Support and Housing Administration worked together to remove materials from the park. At the same time, City staff and Police worked together to bring this situation to a safe and orderly conclusion."

Mayor Rob Ford was pleased at how peaceful the eviction was proceeding "I would also like to say how proud I am of the professionalism and skill demonstrated by each member of our City of Toronto staff and Toronto Police Service who made this peaceful resolution possible. They have all been working extremely hard since this protest began over a month ago.

Before I conclude, I'd like to note that members of the Occupy Toronto movement have been largely peaceful in their protest – and remained so today. Finally, I'd like to thank the citizens of Toronto, notably the residents and businesses in the area, who have been very patient for the past month."

Court upholds eviction from Toronto St James Park

Some of the Occupy Toronto St James Park campers have started pulling out of the park after the court ruling that paved the way for the movements eviction as sought by the City. As some of the protesters start to remove their possessions more people (protesters and media) streaming into the area has rapidly increased the population in the park in anticipation of the eviction process. Several protesters chained themselves to the Yurt which has been serving as a library (photo at top).

Several bike police were across the road from the park and a few lonely protesters called out to the police while inside the park they larger group congregated around the gazebo.

News crews wait for the eviction process.

The City of Toronto press release states that the municipality “is pleased by Mr. Justice David M. Brown’s ruling announced today that the City's notice issued on November 15 is constitutionally valid. The City respectfully asks Occupy Toronto and others occupying St. James Park for their cooperation in peacefully complying with that ruling.

The City is grateful that Mr. Justice Brown has upheld its right to require that the tents or other structures not be erected or maintained in our parks, and that individuals not use, gather or enter City parks from 12.01 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

“The City has worked to balance people's right to protest with public safety. However, this unauthorized use of a City park has interfered with the rights local residents have to the quiet enjoyment of their parks and homes and has negatively affected many area businesses. City parks are for all residents to enjoy and there are bylaws that govern their use that must be respected. It is time for this to come to a peaceful end," said Mayor Rob Ford.

“Protestors are required to remove all tents, shelters or other structures,” said City Manager Joseph Pennachetti. “The City is willing to assist to ensure the safe and orderly removal of these materials. We are asking for protestors to cooperate and respect the Court’s decision. It is our intent to facilitate this peacefully.”

Shelter, Support and Housing Administration staff will continue to be available at the Adelaide Women’s Resource Centre to assist anyone who may need help with shelter, housing or other supports.

The City extends its appreciation to the Court for its timely consideration of this matter.”

See more of today's occupation after the jump.