Toronto Sun and Doug Holyday leading the charge to oust Occupy Toronto protesters from St. James Park
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday has heard from people—both local residents and people who work in the area (oh my!)—who want Occupy Toronto protesters booted out of St. James Park. Of course, Holyday isn’t exactly a downtown councillor, and the protest isn’t even close to taking place in his ward. Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun’s editorial board is also calling for protesters to leave the park, and warning readers that “Aboriginal militants” (um, what?) are involved in the occupation. Now, what’s remarkable about all this (aside from the blatant racism) is that the Sun offers its unwavering support to Mayor Rob Ford in his quest for cuts, but then suddenly become defenders of public space as soon as it’s—ahem—occupied by a group with whom they disagree. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »
The good mayor or our City didn’t like Mary Walsh invading his home.I agree they went too far. Occumpation Toronto in my neighbourhood has gone on too far also.
Well we are living with an “Occupation” invasion ever day.
They have been occupying too long. They have found a way to live for free in a desirable neighbourhood. They have gotten food from the Food Bank. I have supported the Food Bank and will not be supporting them in the future.
O.T.O. group brings to this area all sorts of people and that do not live in Toronto. They either have a cause or complaint. Some are coming for the atmosphere. It is the “Woodstock” of today. Many of them do not have a clue and are missinformed, by the lack of knowlege or whatever propaganda they have been fed.
I am taxpaying citizen of Toronto, unlike the St James Park occupiers. Some have quit their jobs to be here.
I live directly across from the Park in a glass Condo. The park is surrounded by condos.
I get the view and noise friom tent city in my living/dining/kitchen/bedroom/den every day.
When they are loud, druming,generators, loudspeaker systems, the sound is applified into the Bathrooms coming in through to exhaust grilles.
We no longer feel safe walking through the Park. I walk around the park. The police and firemen are not aloud to enter the Park. I feel like my home is invaded ever minute I am home.
I have had to leave my home to get peace and quiet on occasion and especially that first weekend. The Police and the City are sitting back and hoping the weather will make the problem dissapear.It is not going to happen.
They had a large generator operating the night of the wind and rain storm a week ago. The noise of the generator prevented me from sleeping past 3:00 am. I had to get up and go to work they next day, unlike the Occupiers. The noise level of that Generator was equivelent to the street cleaner or louder. The noise of the street cleaner stopps as the cleaner passes by. The O.T.O. Generators run 24 hours.The tents are wired with lighting which are never turned out.
I hear the occupation group are silent (no demands )for now as they are making their winterization plans. There is a fire in the park that the Mohawk lit prior to any approvals to do so. The fire department was here last night. A large semi truck has been uloading 4′-0″ x 8′-0″ sheets of plywood this morning again for their winterization building. The Police blocked one additional lane of Traffic on Adelaide Street to enable them.
The City has been doing a lot of enabling for this group.
They number of tents increases weekly and it has been report that there are two (200) hundred tents.
No consideration has been given that this is a Residential area. No consideration is given to the affect of the small businesses that are losing revenue. This is not Bay Street. There is no Goverment Building here.
Why should I pay my taxes to City when the city is doing nothing to enforce all the bylaws that are being broken?
We have a once beautiful park, now destroyed. The Park is filled with squatters, Profesional Homeless, and now Mohawk Indians proclaiming their rights.They have figured out how to live for free.
The police are wasting their time watching the Occupiers when they could be elsewhere.
Now is the time to get them out, before it gets really ugly.
It is time for the City to wake up and clear the occupiers out.
This is life as we know it for those of us who live around St. James Park. Daily physical and verbal intimidation from the squatters, a Cathedral whose dean lies through his teeth about supporting the squatters, a media who gleefully reports every stroll these vagrants take but has no interest in those of us living with it and who will pay to fix it up if they ever leave.
The occupy Toronto encampment was about a lot more than the crass witticism of lemmings who followed rob ford regardless what baffoonery befalls that blunderbuss.