At this time last year, Occupy landed in Victoria.
Tents, tarps and couches began to fill Centennial Square, launching the local incarnation of an already well-established international movement.
For six weeks, activists braved the fall weather before an injunction by the City of Victoria put an end to the encampment.
But even as tenters packed up and the square emptied last November, a common question buzzed on the lips of activists: whatB次元官网网址檚 next?
B次元官网网址淚 really tried hard to keep it going by having assemblies and trying to raise issues I thought people could rally around,B次元官网网址� said Robert Duncan, a member of the , which steered the protest by consensus. B次元官网网址淧eople were swearing up and down that there was going to be a lot of camping again (in the) summer, but it didnB次元官网网址檛 happen.B次元官网网址�
Inevitably the group dwindled, said Duncan, who works in a group home. B次元官网网址淭here is a lot of complacency. People donB次元官网网址檛 feel the issues are touching them in a major way B次元官网网址� yet.B次元官网网址�
So what happened to the movement?
One year later, the B次元官网网址 caught up with four activists heavily involved with the PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Assembly.
While the momentum of Occupy may have abated, they all insist it wasnB次元官网网址檛 a wasted effort. Rather, it sparked debate that continues today about poverty, activism and even the very definition of Occupy.
The lessons learned about resistance have energized other protests, said Anushka Nagji.
When faced with the cityB次元官网网址檚 injunction last November, the law student used her training to launch a legal defence.
It failed, but Occupy Victoria B次元官网网址渉as inspired and created so many more cascading events and groups,B次元官网网址� Nagji said from Vancouver, where she now studies.
She counts the so-called Casserole Protests among them.
When the Montreal student-tuition protests spread to other major cities in the spring, Nagji was twice arrested and spent the night in jail. B次元官网网址淭he second time I was beat up pretty bad; I had a cracked rib and was laid up for about a month,B次元官网网址� she said.
Occupy also sparked connections, added Michelle Buchanan.
B次元官网网址淪ome really strong bonds were made in the camp last fall, and those continue to exist,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e were divided a little bit; you were an environmentalist or you were a social justice activist B次元官网网址� and the camp had a great quality of bringing us all together to realize that our goals were very similar.B次元官网网址�
While the PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Assembly embraced an inclusive philosophy, it did not include everyone.
Buchanan was tasked with social media for the group and she struggled to distinguish its aims from a second group that lays claim to the word Occupy.
That struggle continues today, as both groups continue to .
On Oct. 20, the local chapter of an anti-corruption movement called We Are Change will hold a rally under the banner B次元官网网址淥ccupy Victoria Returns.B次元官网网址� (wearechangevictoria.org/)
Speakers at the B次元官网网址渇reedom and solutionsB次元官网网址� rally will focus on the flaws of the monetary system. Banks, rather than government, are issuing credit, explains organizer Josh Steffler. The system siphons off too much money to repay the debt, rather than to fund social programs, he continued.
StefflerB次元官网网址檚 group also believes in chem trails, a 9-11 cover up and a global warming fraud.
The PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Assembly sees these ideas as hostile to their cause, but the rift does raise an interesting question.
What ideas can legitimately belong to Occupy when the movement itself defies specific aims and demands?
B次元官网网址淭hey feel they have a monopoly, (but) nobody gets to define Occupy,B次元官网网址� said Steffler.
For his part, Duncan dismisses the group as conspiracy theorists.
Occupy is generally understood to represent the consensus on the left, he said.
Nagji defines it in similarly broad terms, as resistance to oppression.
For many people, the lack of tangibility has made Occupy a hard sell.
It has also left the movement vulnerable to misinterpretation, admitted Terence Stone, another activist.
In August 2011, the 68-year-old clinical counsellor returned from a trip to India and South East Asia. There, he witnessed what he characterized as the B次元官网网址渞esidual oppressionB次元官网网址� of colonization and war.
Getting involved with the PeopleB次元官网网址檚 Assembly seemed a natural fit.
Using his large stock pot, Stone cooked up big batches of spicy peanut soups and hauled them to Centennial Square to share. Occupy connected people to poverty and homelessness in a profound way, he said.
But in the wider community, there were huge misunderstandings, Stone said.
The protest was attacked for not having specific demands. However, that was also its strength, he said. Rather than proposing solutions, Occupy was about posing the right questions.
B次元官网网址淵oung people and old people were asking questions,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hat is happening right now, in terms of corporatism? How is that control manifest? How is it hidden from us?B次元官网网址�
These are the important questions to ask moving forward, he said.
At this point, the activists donB次元官网网址檛 predict a re-Occupy movement in the near future. They do, however, describe a resurgence as likely at some point. Duncan predicts the global economic crisis is just ramping up.
B次元官网网址淚t will make the 1930s look like childB次元官网网址檚 play,B次元官网网址� he said.
Occupy formed a network of activated people who are just below the surface; when the crisis hits, he said, B次元官网网址渁 community could be reactivated in an instant.B次元官网网址�
rholmen@vicnews.com
Upcoming protest to defend coast
The people behind Occupy Victoria and Occupy Vancouver turn their attention to B.C.B次元官网网址檚 coast on Monday (Oct. 22).
A mass sit-in at the legislature, protesting the rising threat of pipelines and tankers, aims to send the message B次元官网网址渢he West Coast is not for sale.B次元官网网址� Anyone who wants to participate in the day of action is asked to attend a one-day training session this Sunday.
On Oct. 24, activists across the province will get involved by linking arms at their local MLA offices.
For more information on the protests, visit occupyvictoria.ca or defendourcoast.ca.
