About 500 protesters gathered in Confederation Park Oct. 15 for Occupy Ottawa’s first general assembly.
The protest remained in Confederation Park for the entire day, after the group decided to occupy the location indefinitely.
Ben Powless, one of Occupy Ottawa’s facilitators, said democratically deciding where they’d be and what they’d be doing was “inspiring.”
“People are anxious to participate,” Powless said. “[Normally], you may be asked [your opinion] 15 times throughout your life . . . here we do it on a daily basis.”
Josh Greenberg, an communications professor at Carleton, said the movement is more about people coming together to make change, rather than a single issue.
“We don’t have a core set of demands because we’re not talking about a single movement. It's a movement of environmentalists, labour activists . . . people who care about homelessness and affordable housing. These concerns reflect back, on what I would say, is the unifying message: that politics and the economy is driven primarily by corporate interests . . . The so-called one per cent.”
“We can’t really call ourselves democratic when corporate lobbyists have more [access to] our politicians than we do,” said Espoir Manirambona, a fourth-year public affairs and policy management student.
Some have argued the Occupy movement lacks focus, but the attitude seemed positive at the protest.
“At first [the protest] did turn me off, it still kind of does, there’s not much of a coherent message . . . [But] if anything, it’s a good platform for debate,” said Anika Sparling, third-year political science student and Carleton Campus Greens representative.
Although most of the 500 protesters at Confederation Park approved of the Occupy movement, Tom Forsythe, a self-proclaimed country musician, protested the protests themselves.
“I think they’re here because they’re spoiled brats,” Forsythe said. “If they cared about poverty in the rest of the world, they’d find [a system] that works, like capitalism.”
About one hundred people stayed in Confederation Park overnight, according to Kevin Donaghy, an event organizer.
“There was a lot of really high energy. People found it hard to fall asleep because they were super excited that there was such a huge turnout,” he said.
Though many couldn’t stay overnight, the outpouring of support from the community was huge, according to participant Mandy Joy, a PhD student in anthropology at Carleton.
“So many people are just like ‘what do you need, what can I bring you,’ ” Joy said. “People who aren’t even here to demonstrate, [people who] just want to support [us] somehow.”
Around 300 protesters marched to Parliament Hill and through the downtown core Oct. 16, before returning to Confederation Park. Many protesters smiled as they chanted slogans like “Down with Harper,” “Tell me what freedom feels like . . . this is what freedom feels like,” and “Wake up, join us,” while drums pounded in the background.
People also handed out pamphlets, and encouraged bystanders to join.
“I wish them luck, good for them,” said bystander Ed Anderson. “It’s nice that they can [exercise their rights] in this country.”
Police co-operated with the activists throughout the weekend, and helped with safety concerns by blocking off the road as they marched.
“[We’re] here just for public safety, and that’s it,” said Ottawa police sergeant Russell Lucas.
Similar protests sprung up in other cities across the country last weekend and have no official end date.
