Maritimes Occupied

Protest sets up camp in Parade Square

Parade Square was fully “occupied” October 15. Photo by Calum Agnew

Hundreds of protesters in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement filled Grand Parade square Saturday afternoon. “It’s not about what kind of car you drive, it’s about caring for the people around you!” said Acadian speaker Angele Bourgeois from the foot of the cenotaph.

Since early September, protesters in New York have camped out on Wall Street to retrieve political power from the corporate elite, the one per cent that controls 99 per cent of the wealth. On Oct. 15, Occupy Nova Scotia joined the ranks of the worldwide protests that have grown out of New York’s example.

The Occupy movement has come under fire for its lack of targeted objectives, often being portrayed in the media as nothing more than nebulous and misplaced idealism.

“We don’t have a simple list of demands because the problems aren’t simple,” said Ryan McKenna, an event organizer, during his speech Saturday afternoon.

According to the Occupy Nova Scotia event website on Facebook, the movement protests “the existence of the system that oppresses the majority of the population of the planet that exploits their labour, and externalizes the costs of their industries; cutting funding to our social programs, our pensions, our education system and our food and energy security.”

Courtney Spencer is a social work student at Dal who was at the protest. “We’ve been conditioned to fix our problems through individualism, but maybe we shouldn’t try it alone,” she said. “Maybe we can’t do that alone.”

Rachel Houlton, an environmental activist who traveled from Wolfville to camp out in the square, said her trip is meant to stand against “unsustainable practices of powerful corporations.”

Others, like Aboriginal elder Billy Lewis in his keynote address, have a more political agenda. “ We don’t want a loaf of bread,” he said. “We want the whole bakery!”

The square was a medley of activity. A dog draped with a sheet emblazoned with ‘Captain Planet’ made its way through the crowd. Pamphlets on unions, political movements and sustainable practice were handed out.

After the planned speeches, members of the crowd were encouraged to take to the cenotaph. A silver-haired woman stepped up to shout, “I’ve been alive for 85 years, and today is the happiest day of my life.” Occupy NS plans to remain peacefully inhabiting Grand Parade.