When the Young Greens of Canada gathered on the grass at Confederation Park as part of the Occupy Ottawa general assembly Oct. 15, Carleton student Caitlyne Brewer was there to have her political voice heard.
“Apathy will solve nothing,” Brewer said in an email. “I believe in political engagement — not standing by.”
Brewer stayed true to her word as she rallied with an estimated 500 protesters, including her fellow Young Greens of Canada and the Carleton Campus Greens.
Brewer, 20, described the atmosphere at Confederation Park as “warm and welcoming.”
“People were singing and dancing and just enjoying each other’s company. It’s nice to see the community pull together,” she said.
Putting communities first is a challenge Brewer hasn’t shied away from. Last year, Brewer raised $1,800 for Carleton’s ‘Relay For Life’ initiative and has fundraised for the Canadian Cancer Society since she was 14.
Brewer’s activism isn’t limited to knocking on doors. She has been politically engaged since her first year at Carleton in 2009, she said.
Recently, she attended Ottawa’s Keystone XL pipeline solidarity rally on Parliament Hill against the pipeline expansion in the Alberta tarsands.
Brewer also played an active role in the recent provincial election, serving as chief financial officer to Charlie Taylor, a candidate for the Green Party of Ontario.
She said the main reason she wanted to be involved with Occupy Ottawa is because she felt that the political and economic systems were broken.
“We need to get the money out of politics and put an end to corporate welfare,” Brewer said. “Corporations are not people. We need to put people and communities first.”
Occupy Ottawa’s first general assembly started in part as a protest of solidarity with Occupy Wall Street in the United States.
“The focus of the Occupy Ottawa movement is two-fold: not only are Ottawans standing in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, but we’re also putting forth the issue of social equality in general,” Brewer said, adding she’s alarmed at the number of people she meets who aren’t aware of the movement’s existence.
“People need to wake up to the reality of the situation,” she said.
Even more alarming to Brewer is the poor voter turnout in recent elections, she said. If people want change, they have to vote for it.
“When the political system isn’t working for us, we should become all that much more involved, not apathetic,” she said.
When asked about the movement’s focus, Brewer responded, “The whole point of this movement is to represent the 99 per cent.”
The protest is trying to emphasize the danger in having a handful of people hold all the power and wealth, Brewer added. The movement has received special attention over accusations that it’s irrelevant to Canadian society, given the differences between Canadian and American banking systems.
The situation in Canada is different than that of the United States, Brewer acknowledged, because of more strict regulations on the banking system. However, she warned that if Canada does nothing, the country’s at risk of losing jobs and organizations within its communities.
Brewer said she plans on going back to Confederation Park as soon as she can and she urges people to go check it out for themselves.
“People need to stand up and hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” she said. “If we don’t, who will?”
