The global movement for social and economic inequality that commenced in New York and spread around the world like a forest fire appears to be burning out. Although, the protesters have remained determined and unrelenting in their cause they appear to be losing the battle and have been ordered to leave by politicians, judges and in some places by the sheer unbalanced power of the police.
Fortunately, the protests in Toronto have been peaceful and without incident until today. The removal of the protests have been brought under question as the protesters have argued that their camps and tents are an embodiment of their constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression.
On the other side, the city has used every conceivable by-law at their disposal to obtain the removal of the protesters after five weeks of peaceful protesting. The mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford and his allies on city council have managed to use the guise of garbage removal, winterizing parks, and the loss of local business to move their agenda forward and evict the protesters from St. James Park.
The ruling today by Justice Brown stated that the city’s trespass order was “constitutionally valid” and that the protesters failed to meet their onus and demonstrate that the city’s actions infringed on their Charter of Rights.
For more information you can read the CBC article at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/21/occupy-toronto-court-decision.html
Originally posted on Monday, 21 November 2011
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