Occupy Nova Scotia kicked off its occupation of Grand Parade today, joining hundreds of like-minded occupations around the globe.
“This is a new dawn, a new beginning and a new way of doing things,” explained Billy Lewis, a Mi’kmaq elder who opened the event. “Our way of doing things is going to be very confusing for the Powers That Be.”
It’s a high-spirited crowd of about 200, but those numbers will probably grow, says Ryan McKenna, one of the organizers. He expects about 50 people to sleep on the grounds. “Every inch of grass will be covered with tents,” he says.
The group is highly organized, with a medical tent, a sleeping area, art supplies and provisions for food and entertainment. Today’s schedule looks like this:
Noon-2pm Speakers, with an allotted time of five minutes each
2-3pm “Arts and Culture”
3-4pm Teach-ins/workshops, starting with “conflict deescalation”
4-5pm Discussion circles
5-6pm Working groups to plan activities
6-7pm Supper
7pm General Assembly, where decisions are made
Afterwards Putting on activities to join the city-wide Nocturne art celebration
The occupation is open-ended, “from now until whenever,” says McKenna.
I’ve been around a lot of demonstrations, and this is something new. For one, the old lefty demos have grown up; the group is quite conscious of the public face it is presenting, and has structured itself so it can’t be disrupted from within by a strong personality or coopted from the outside. The never-ending meetings and discussions, and the decision-making “general assemblies” might strike some as tedious, but looked at another way, they’re an exciting insistence on finding a new way of doing things.
Even more important, it seems to me, is the upbeat tempo. “This isn’t really a protest,” says McKenna. “We’re filled with hope and optimism.”
“Let’s have fun!” one of the speakers said to loud cheers, as a beach ball bounced around the crowd.
Even the “People’s mic” used to amplify a speaker—the speaker says a line, which is then repeated in unison by everyone in earshot—brought smiles to the crowd as they tripped over Mi’kmaq words and repeated every “um” and “OK.”
At its core, the occupation is mostly young people, but I was happy to see some grandmotherly types and a strong union presence, with the CUPE local speaking of the Air Canada labour situation.
Listening to the speakers and talking informally with some of the demonstrators, I’m struck by how informed they are. Not all of them have a deep understanding of the financial shenanigans of recent years, but a lot of them do. And there’s no law that says a demonstrator needs a degree in political science or economics before being allowed the right to dissent; it’s enough, I think, to simply acknowledge that something is fundamentally wrong with the present economic order. If nothing else, the Occupy movement is making that point loud and clear.
While the local occupation will have its own flavour, it certainly is getting cues from the folks on Wall Street. I haven’t seen it reported anywhere else, but the Wall Street people had sent organizers out around the world, including here to Halifax, to help get the local organizations off the ground.
They seem a competent bunch, and I regret that I won’t be able to catch tonight’s General Assembly to see that competency in action. But the group’s not going anywhere, and so I’ll catch them next time.
And I wish them the best. Already they are being insulted, discounted, the subject of jokes and ridicule. This is good; it means they’re touching something visceral in the public psyche. As Gandhi said, “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
I’ll drop by the demonstration from time to time for regular updates. Stay tuned.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.
Where is the ‘No Stadium’ protest group ?
If you people are at all concerned about the message you want to get across to those who may share some of your views get your fucking garbage off of the cenotaph. It is a monument to those who have served and those who have died. Whether or not you understand why, you can show some god damned respect. That seems to be what you are demanding, is it not.
I was always told that soldiers died for our freedom… you know, to demonstrate. It seems entirely appropriate that a monument to the soldiers should literally, physically, support the expression of young people wanting a better world.
Actually it was not Gandhi…it was Schopenhauer…..”All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher (1788-1860)
The NO stadium protest groups are at the consultations…..and you can go on-line with your feedback…my first issue is getting rid of the machismo stadium language and changing it to metroplex..or something like
Joeblow – why do you need one? You whiners infest every facet of Haligonian life as it is.
Thanks for the unsolicited civics lesson Tim. It might actually mean a little bit more if you honestly believed that soldiers were in the pantheon of individuals that you believe gave you your freedoms. So I will reiterate, the Cenotaph is a monument. It is not a latrine, a grafitti wall, an interactive art installation or a prop for some jejuene “street theatre”. And if you people want respect, be prepared to show it.
A pack – Dexter already said he doesn’t have money for the white elephant.
Were you at the propaganda meetings on Wednesday and Thursday and were you the nutbar that wanted a $100,000,000 covered stadium ?
if you want the stadium consider sending $1,000 bucks cash to the HRM Capital Reserve account and ask your buddies to do the same. I see the Packers are selling shares so you do have a more sensible option for your money.
Really disappointed to see the monuments graffitied with chalk. I know it washes off, but it’s pretty disrespectful.
Oh really these people think they are deprived:
Tell this to people in the third world your deprived while having you $800 phone
Tell people in communist nations to ‘occupy’ and demand change they will be shot in the streets
Tell people in the Middle East your deprived. When these people work 15 hour days and get nothing
Tell people in Iran( who government openly supports the ‘occupy’ movement) to ask their government for change, well they were shot in the streets too.
If you want to live a good life and have a good income you have to work for it.
If you want money you have to work for it. Also I wonder how many of these people have a computer or $800 phone . If they can get either one of the two then you are not deprived and just ask people from third world nations how ‘bad’ you have it. They would be saying “your joking?”
Dear Occupy Nova Scotia,
I came.
I saw.
I left.
Disappointed.
As someone who doesn’t own a TV, or listen to the radio, and has been neglecting reading the newspaper as of lately … I have no idea what on earth your protest was about. I know it has something to do with Occupy Wallstreet, but the least you could have done was make an effort to educate the people who came to see what you were drumming about at Nocturn … because, sadly, I didn’t quite get what you were trying to say through your drums and interpretive dancing. Dammit, you could have at least SANG about it … I purposely came to parade square looking to get more information about what you were protesting … and instead I got to watch you dance and drum … so thanks for nothing.
Stadium, ha! What a joke, hhee!
Off the diversions and onto something truly significant, … I hope I’m dead wrong, and for the first time in many years, there’s a very big chance that I am ~ but what if the money trail behind this 1500+ global city “Occupy” thing points to an ingenious, deceitfully hidden Red plot against what they’ve deliberately mislabeled as “capitalism?”
I call your attention to the fact that this “beatnik sit-in” stuff has all the same tell-tale earmarks of being a mass-planned opportunity ~ for the very same global gang of socialist and communist cabalists whom we are railing against ~ to create their own competition from amongst their opposition (commoners like you, me) by once again financing both sides (just as in WW1, WW2, the whole anti-capitalism hippy-peace dynamic, and every other war since) and redirecting the energy of millions of people’s unrest back into their hidden-from-view “Illuminati” control grid.
Yet, ‘Occupy’ seems the most hopeful sign of global consciousness awakening I’ve ever seen ~ however if you find yourself more at ease after hanging at this event, or feeling as if progress is being made so you can afford to relax now that you are in the good company of so many other like-minded “activists”, then what “they” might be doing will be working ~ because gathering on a street against greed won’t change a thing unless it creates even greater peaceful love between the 99%, and furthermore creates an new un-taxable global entrepreneurial spirit that out-competes all business paradigms yet known to mankind. Opportunity for “life-indeed” is infinite now ~ … if we redouble our efforts after every success; … certainly this is no time for relaxation, and as every 6yo knows, creative business (from kool-aid stands to space travel) is one’s last and only hope.
I say they’ve deliberately mislabeled ‘capitalism’ ~ because when a greedy biz or bank bribes and aligns itself with a force-backed dishonest politico’s guv lobby, its no longer free-enterprise, nor free-competition, nor win-win profits coming into reality (and lifting all of our lives) but instead deadly fascism; … NOT the benevolent reinvestment of human-created capital that is free-competition human pure love-of-life business (… the only ‘system’ that remains untried on the planet.)
In fact, our socialist societies that have grown up in the midst of our deeply asleep selves have degenerated into becoming mobs of defaulting inferiors and usurpers, hiding behind oligarchy-creating regulators (… in communications, energy, transportation, fiat-illusion paper economics, food, defense, housing, justice, media, “education” (ha-ha), yada, yada). Plucking those rights and privileges that belong to others (… every singular individual’s blood-rights) with guns & fists is not a modus operandi that would ever even occur to a self-led biz-person (the real hero) who only thinks to focus on the disciplines needed to earn competitively with s/his honestly better ‘widgets’ and truthful marketing.
Regardless, I’ll be there passing out my lil’ cards. And I won’t be feeling more relaxed after I leave either, as if some progress has been made. The old structures are going to be ripped apart and replaced by a new dimension in human thought, and I’m going to help answer where we are all heading after we leave ‘occupy.’
What’s going to be left to depend on to pick up all the pieces whence all this questionable dust settles next year and thereafter? The coming PRIME LAW is the fully conscious, self-led life-lover’s only permanent solution to force/threat/fraud-backed fascism, socialism, communism, majority-democracy’s dishonest squashing of every individual, and all other possible unfair & uncompetitive corporate-lobbyist combines:
http://bit.ly/PrimeLawFunVanishesNWO
http://bit.ly/3000yoSecret
tvp2012.org
Love of life to us all, and Cheers to the creative, productive “majority of one” remaining standing after collectivism’s post-Armageddon peaceful evaporation.
:^>7
I agree, the signs should be removed from the monuments, around it would be fine, but not directly on it. And there needs to be more education going on, perhaps ill go down with some documents to hand out to people, providing facts and such as to why we, are, screwed. Yes, we have it good here, some of us anyways, but its not about any one singular place. “Well, Thats over in africa, thats not MY problem…” Well, actually it is your problem, because the way we live, is unsustainable, the exploits of globalist corporations is horrendous. Look at the amazon. Look at africa, iraq, and other various places where big oil is, was. BP oil spill. Totalitarian Agriculture. Genetically Modified foods. Africa oil is a canadian company, btw. Guess how much of those profits go to the people.. Corrupt officials keep it all, and all that first aid we send goes to feeding their military. I think everywhere does need to rise up, because this is effecting us globally, as a whole.
As corporate tax rates have decreased over the past 10 years, the rate of investment in machinery and equipment has gone down. So have the number of jobs. The only item that has increased: the cash reserves of corporations, to the tune of $83 Billion. How does that sound? The unemployment rate in canada is at about 9.1%, thats the official. Not including people working two jobs, trying to feed themselves and have a roof at the same time. Its not about laziness, there are no jobs, and what, we go work at the tar sands? Sure, go make some of that awsome oil money thats wrecking the air and water down there. Cars do not have to run on oil. But anything that benefits humanity as a whole is “not profitable”,
Corporate tax rates over a 12 year period:
2000 – Tax rate was 30%
2004 – Tax rate had dropped down to 21%
2008 – Tax rate was lowered to 19.5%
2011 – Tax rate lowered to 16.5%
2012 – Tax rate going down to 15%
In a 12 year period the federal corporate will be cut exactly in half.
Imagine if we reverted back to those tax rates hm? There would be no ‘deficit’, More money could be applied to directly solving the problems we have here at home, instead of it filtering out into “foreign interests” and lining the pockets of a select few. Canada bailed out the banks too, 75 billion out of the taxpayers pocket. How about those new jets that we’re getting, anyone really wanna pay for those? More bombs to drop in the middle east i guess. War never really solves anything. It just creates resentment. The people need to rise up, and state what we want. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way things are being run, and it is not in our favor. It is a machine not built to last.
From 1980 to 2005:
the income of the richest one-fifth of Canadians went UP
16.4%
The poorest fifth saw their earnings go DOWN
20.6%…!
^- Nice statistic eh?, Nice to know in 2008 the top 100 richest canadians walked away with an extra 1.7 billion each in their bank accounts (thats 170billion dollars), WHO needs that much money? The need for material gain has sent us, as a species, down the wrong path, while not true for some people of course, some see the fact that mainstream news is completely bought by these elite, but so are out politicians. 27 billion a year is spent on 10,000 lobbyists in canada alone, The US is way worse. But we’re tied together as they import 3/4 of our exports.
Canada also exports uranium to power ancient nuclear facilities that have had safety regulations cut when something is not up to par. Chalk River as an example, and it is known that said facilities close to populated areas cause increase in the amount of sickness around, lets not forget about all the other crap in our air and water. Instead of wasting money away on useless activities, we could pump some of that into the infrastructure of canada, and increase the actual economy. Bailouts do. not. work. Investing in infrastructure does though.
And some more facts:
In the past 12 years, Canada’s top CEOs have seen their salaries go up an average of 444%. In 1995 the top ten earners made a combined total of $60.7 million— by 2007, that number had jumped to about $330 million.
Corporate tax cuts do NOT create jobs. It turns out cutting corporate taxes is the weakest approach to economic growth and job creation. The lowdown: For every $1 given away on a corporate tax cut we get 20 cents of economic growth – or another way to put it is that we actually lose 80 cents! However, for every $1 spent on infrastructure we get $1.50 in economic growth.
Spending on income supports for the unemployed and low income Canadians has the same big impact — $1.50 returned on every $1 spent. Spending on public services also has a big impact with $1.30 in economic growth for every $1 spent. Makes sense.
http://www.operationmaple.com/holy-st-fact…
There is a wealth of information on the internet, all for the picking. Canada’s economic inequality is growing faster than the US is right now (they’ve already hit a new high), we’re well on our way with them, becoming a globalist bully, and making the view of canadians look bad by mistreating some of the first nations communities, no clean water? Clean water is a human right, everyone deserves that. Its the most basic of necessities.
I could go on and on, but if you wanna learn what is really going on, then come talk to the people at Occupy Nova Scotia, each of us have a story to share with you.
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” – Hendrix
Dr. David Schindler of the University of Alberta described the Harper government as “the most oppressive in the history of federal government science. Incredibly, some of the most eminent scientists in Canada have been forbidden to speak publicly on scientific matters where they are recognized as world experts”.
In addition to restricting the flow of climate information, the Harper government has also cancelled funding for a decade-long climate research project that was recognized around the world for its importance. Dr. Gordon BcBean, Chair of CFCAS (Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science) called the government’s termination “a nightmare for scientists across the country”.
“How about those new jets that we’re getting, anyone really wanna pay for those?”
Yes, personally, I do. Although I’m starting to think that the twin engined F/A-18E Super Hornet would be better suited for defending our land mass and meeting our N.A.T.O. committments. Military spending is as much a “social program” as Health or Education. Its a question of finding the correct balance.
I noticed on the Sunday news that the banner had been removed from the Cenotaph.
According to another report, the protestors were mostly quiet and respectful during the memorial service for fallen peace officers. Well done.
Look who the rich are :
• At the end of 2010, total assets for this year’s Top 100 pension plans were $753.4 billion, compared with $669.0 billion at the end of 2009. This is an increase of 12.6% over last year.
“While the first wave of the post-World War II baby boomer generation is just reaching the traditional retirement age of 65, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) (No. 1) has faced a significant demographic shift for more than two decades. According to Jim Leech, the plan’s president and CEO, in 1990, the province’s teachers worked and paid into the pension for an average of 29 years and spent 25 years drawing pension benefits. Today, they work for 26 years and spend 30 in retirement. The average retirement age of Teachers’ members has dropped from 61 to 59 over that time frame, and the ratio of working teachers to retirees has gone from 4:1 to 1.5:1. Despite once again posting a double-digit increase in investment returns, Teachers’ faces a funding deficit of $17.2 billion. “
source : http://www.benefitscanada.com/pensions/db/…
Compared with : http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/…
I wonder how the real 99% think. They do not even care
I find myself agreeing with Ivan – I too was pretty disgusted to see the Occupy NS banners draped over the cenotaph – a memorial to heroes who gave their lives for our freedoms. As much as the right to protest may be one of those hard-won freedoms, to hang banners on a memorial is disrespectful. Equally disrespectful to me is the number of occupy folk sitting on the cenotaph steps. In news coverage yesterday there was a group of them just lounging around on the steps rolling up cigarettes…it’s a memorial people! Show some respect and you may get some in return.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/persona…
Stop blaming the poor. I know it’s hard to do but have some compassion. By the time our socialist government is done with your wallet, you will be joining them whether you think so or not. Say what you want, when your broke you will start listening.
Justine Armstrong
In response, we did at one point have an info desk set-up. It was mostly set-up during the day. It sucks that you didn’t get the info you were looking for but we have been dealing with alot of crisis situations as of late. If you want more info I reocmmond the halifax occupy facebook page if you have facbeook… if you don’t I recommend looking up more info on the internet since your on it. I can only speak as of why I’m there not for the movment.