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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Market Square occupied overnight

By: Geoff Kirbyson

Posted: 05/11/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press Jesse Singer (left) sets up his tent with help from Terry Weaymouth at Old Market Square in the Exchange District Thursday evening for a one-night protest.

OCCUPY Winnipeg is back.

Several dozen members of the protest movement convened in Old Market Square in the Exchange District Thursday evening for a "general assembly" and one-night camp-out.

Unlike last fall's two-month-long gathering in Memorial Park, the protesters now plan to do shorter, more targeted events in different locations.

"That's more sustainable and realistic for many occupiers," said Jesse Singer, the first one on the scene Thursday and a spokesman for the group. By day he is a social worker for a non-profit youth agency.

The group's goal is to come up with a plan of what to do next, share ideas, meet new friends and bond with their comrades, he said.

By dusk, a half-dozen picnic tables in the park were full while some people started putting up tents. A variety of musicians strummed and slapped away, too.

Louise May, a returnee from last fall, said she fully believes the Occupy movement can succeed in its goal of creating a more equitable world.

"If you look back through history, society has changed usually by crisis or opportunity, and we're at a crossroads right now," she said.

"We need to look at more strategic changes to our systems."

By allowing every participant to have their views heard, she said, Occupy is modelling a democratic process that should be in more widespread use.

"Allowing everybody to have an equal voice is a fundamental element of our society that our governments don't seem to get," she said.

A quartet of police officers stood watch from across the street but showed no interest in getting involved with the protesters.

Mayor Sam Katz was not available for comment, but spokeswoman Rhea Yates said Katz supports a person's right to voice an opinion.

Occupy Winnipeg's Memorial Park site, the country's longest-standing encampment of the Occupy movement started on Wall Street, was dismantled days before Christmas by Winnipeg police and provincial parks officers.

They arrived early in the morning, arrested the last three protesters and shut down a demonstration that had survived for 67 days. The province made the decision to move in, citing fire and security concerns.

It was Canada's last Occupy encampment, part of a rallying cry that swept across the country Oct. 15 in more than 20 cities.

The movement began as a day of action to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. Thousands of people from Moncton, N.B., to Vancouver set up tent cities to demonstrate for social and economic equality. Each site, one by one, was shut down.

At its peak in late fall, Occupy Winnipeg attracted as many as 100 supporters a day. It held about two dozen tents, including a kitchen and food-storage area, and food donations poured in. A teepee was erected to serve as a library/free store and an open-mike area was set up for entertainers.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 11, 2012 B1

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