Group of councilors attempt to delay Occupy eviction
Posted November 15, 2011 4:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
While the city has issued an eviction notice to members of the Occupy Toronto protest, a group of 14 councilors have sent a letter to the mayor and city manager asking that no action be taken until council can discuss the situation at the end of the month.
Despite the fact a judge has ruled that the city cannot evict Occupy Toronto protesters from St. James Park overnight, the group still wants council to discuss the issue.
“As far as I can tell, no law has been broken there that has anything to do with creating any dangerous circumstances for anyone in Toronto. If no one’s in danger, I think we should let the protest continue,” said Coun. Gord Perks, who is one if the councilors supporting the initiative.
Demonstrators and their tents must be out by 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the eviction notice issued Tuesday states.
But some councillors believe more time is necessary to discuss the situation.
“We need to exhaust all options for dialogue. Until we’ve actually done that, I don’t think we should be moving in, especially if it’s a forceful removal of the tents or even the residents who are in the park,” said Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, who also signed the letter.
The councilors argue that the Occupy Toronto protest hasn’t been discussed at council since the motion to endorse the peaceful demonstration was raised at the end of October.
If accepted, the proposal would be discussed at city council on November 29 and 30.
Meanwhile, some surrounding residents and businesses say their quality of life has been impacted by the protest.
“The last two years that we’ve been here, we’ve been able to say we’ve got this beautiful park view. And it’s not been a beautiful park view this time,” said Rachel Young, who runs a shared office space across from the park.
She said the port-a-potties are creating an unpleasant situation.
“On the warmer days, we can definitely smell it kind of wafting over.”
And residents say the protest is an eyesore.
“It’s my park too. It’s difficult to go to one of my favourite little restaurants around here and look across at that. Enough is enough,” said resident Andrew Smith.
