Occupy Winnipeg protest grows

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2011 (5346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Roughly 200 people gathered near Portage and Main this afternoon as part of Occupy Winnipeg, one of a number of Canadian protests organized in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The crowd gathered in the square in front of 201 Portage Ave. (formerly Canwest Place) under sunny skies following a march from the Legislative Building earlier in the day. Supporters held up cardboard placards and peacefully listened to speeches. The number of participants had risen from around 100 at the start of the march.

Participants planned to retrace their steps to the legislature at around 4 p.m., followed by a sharing circle with participants in today’s Slutwalk. They then expected to set up camp across from the legislature at Memorial Park.

Earlier in the day, organizer Trevor Semotok rallied the crowd by telling them the event has no single leader and no single issue. Some issues cited in connection with the event have included social justice, the environment, government accountability and the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board.

“When you’re building a ship you don’t assign tasks, you teach everyone to yearn for the boundless possibilities of the sea,” Semotok told the crowd.

Marches took place in a number of Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.