Occupy Vancouver Protesters

[Common sense]

Occupy Vancouver is attempting to re-energize what seems to have become a moribund movement.

[Wetcoaster]

Occupy Vancouver is apparently going ahead with its plan to blockade the Port of Vancouver. Perhaps the VPD should decide not to show up and let the longshoreman handle things.

B.C. Federation President Jim Sinclair was all in favour of Occupy Vancouver's tactics in the past but now...

“While we support the aims of Occupy, this specific tactic we don’t,” he said. “But I’m not clear what the tactic is because we haven’t heard.

“The bottom line is we don’t think shutting down the port is going to get the support of the 99 per cent.

“Taking away someone’s paycheque for a day in these circumstances doesn’t make sense.”

It all depends upon whose paycheque is being affected, eh Jimmy??? No pain, no gain.

Occupy Vancouver is taking its message to the waterfront.

Since being booted from the front steps of the Art Gallery, Occupy Vancouver has taken its show on the road, and on Monday groups vow to shut down Port Metro Vancouver and six other Pacific seaports as part of the ‘West Coast Coordinated Port Shutdown.’

“From our community to yours, we need you,” reads Occupy Vancouver’s call to arms, with the goal of shutting down the port’s entry point near New Brighton Park.

Locally the group plans two events — raising a banner at Deltaport, where expansion is looming, then heading to New Brighton Park to shut down the entry point nearby.

The occupiers said their action is “a call to stand in solidarity with the longshoremen of Longview, Wash., who are courageously fighting union-busting activities by the grain company EGT.”

“The ports are public — they belong to everyone, including us,” say the occupiers. “If Canada is a democracy and a free country then we have every right to go to the port and protest.”

The New Brighton entrance to the port was essentially a public road until a few years ago, then gates and entry points were installed to control movement in and out of the port.

As Canada’s busiest port, Port Metro Vancouver, on an average day, moves over 300,000 tonnes of cargo.

The B.C. Federation of Labour, which has union members who’ll be manning the gates at the port, doesn’t want Occupy Vancouver to block port activity.

“We’ve asked them to consider other ways of protesting besides that,” said B.C. Federation President Jim Sinclair of a decision that was passed by officers of the federation and supported by two of the unions at the port — the longshoremen and the Canadian Auto Workers union.

“While we support the aims of Occupy, this specific tactic we don’t,” he said. “But I’m not clear what the tactic is because we haven’t heard.

“The bottom line is we don’t think shutting down the port is going to get the support of the 99 per cent.

“Taking away someone’s paycheque for a day in these circumstances doesn’t make sense.”

The occupiers also hope to shut down the six strategic U.S. ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

The group plans a Deltaport event at 9 a.m. — and then will meet at Callister Park in Vancouver before proceeding to the New Brighton entrance.

http://www.theprovince.com/Occupy+group+plans+shut+down+Vancouver+port/5844822/story.html#ixzz1gI38Zesy

[John316]

At least they know to end it in time to watch the Canucks game

[Wetcoaster]

Five arrests at the Port of Vancouver blockade.

Five people were arrested Monday afternoon in protests at three Metro Vancouver ports.

The Occupy Vancouver action was intended to draw attention to the potentially disastrous environmental impact of oil sands traffic through the Lower Mainland as well as the corporatization of the ports.

It was also to show solidarity with Occupy movements up and down the west coast, which organized simultaneous shutdowns of about a dozen ports from San Diego, Calif., to Anchorage, Alaska.

A noon march of more than a hundred protesters came to a brief standoff with police at the Vancouver port’s Commissioner Road entrance — just north of the PNE fairgrounds — and was bookended by smaller blockades of two entry points further west in the morning and afternoon.

Organizers said the main protest was scaled back after some local unions withdrew their support for the incendiary action. “By holding off today we hope to foster support and solidarity with unions in the future,” said spokesman Maxim Winther, 23.

Around 1 p.m., about 100 people marshalled in Callister Park across from Hastings Racecourse and then marched north to the Commissioner Road entrance. They were greeted at the port by police, who formed a line across the road barring the protesters from entering the port area.

Maracas and a pounding drumbeat were the soundtrack to a tense yet almost comical standoff as protesters debated their next move. Interactions were cordial between protesters and police, who had a police boat standing by as well as an officer filming the protest from a nearby condo development.

Eventually, the protesters marched back to the park and disappeared, only to reconvene around 3:30 p.m. at East Hastings Street and Clark Drive, where a brief blockade had kicked off the day of action early Monday morning.

One 37-year-old woman and four men -- ages 22, 25, 28 and 33 -- were arrested for breach of the peace at the Clark Drive port entrance after refusing police orders to leave and indicating they wanted to be arrested, said Const. Lindsey Houghton on the Vancouver police department. The other protesters left on their own, continuing to disrupt traffic by blocking traffic, Houghton said.

All five were released from custody at around 6 p.m. and no criminal charges were laid.

Late afternoon, port spokeswoman Katherine Bamford said despite claims by occupiers that the day’s blockades had stopped the majority of longshoremen from going in to work, the port was functioning normally with two entrances open.

“The port’s been open for business all day,” Bamford said.

Peter Xotta, vice-president of planning and operations at the port, he respected the people’s right to protest, but that, “Our job at Port Metro Vancouver is to ensure that things keep moving.”

Organizers claim they only went ahead with the morning blockades after receiving the approval of rank-and-file longshoremen.

We had some members of the longshoremen come forward and let us know that they actually were really in support of us and that we should go ahead with this action,” said spokeswoman Mya Wollf. “Because those workers were in favour of this we decided to do a morning action that was a bit more assertive.”

The protesters purposely blockaded an entrance used by unionized employees who could take the day off with pay, leaving independent contractors to continue working as they pleased, Wollf said.

The morning action began in solidarity with port workers involved in a labour dispute with the EGT grain company in Longview, Wash. Wollf said.

“We want them to know that there’s a lot of injustice going on with the workers,” Wollf said. “Maybe not so much here but definitely throughout the states.”

“In the U.S., longshoremen are fighting a long and difficult battle for wages and rights against the global elite,” reads an event description on Occupy Vancouver’s website. “Why should we stand in solidarity with them here in Canada? The answer is simple. The economy is global, and our neighbour’s fate will soon be ours.”

The B.C. Federation of Labour, whose union members work at the port, said earlier this week it didn’t support the blockade.

Union president Jim Sinclair said while the union supports the wider Occupy movement, it didn’t believe blockading the port to be a good way to engender public support.

Port Metro Vancouver moves over 300,000 tonnes of cargo daily.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Occupy+Vancouver+rally+stops+trucks+from+reaching+port/5846898/story.html#ixzz1gO6JIgVm

[smackyo23]

It's a real shame that what could have been one of the most important social movements of our time was hijacked by a bunch of ultra far left douche bags. By the time the end came at the art gallery most of the original people that organized the whole thing had moved on because they were bullied by the idiots that hijacked the thing and anyone that gave the protest any legitimacy was gone as well. I supported and still support the politics behind the movement as a whole but right since the beginning I said that maintaining legitimacy would be the most important thing and then a bunch of poser hippy douche bags sitting around banging drums and smoking weed was not the way to maintain legitimacy and low and behold that's exactly what happened with some heroin and an overdose death for good measure.

People want to say that it's an American problem or whatever but that's pretty short sighted as unfortunately US corporations have grown so large that any negative ramifications are felt world wide therefore, it's a world wide problem. Inconveniencing the lives of the general public/middle class and acting like an ass is not going to help you achieve your goal as these are the people that you need support from as they are the majority and in the beginning a majority of people polled agreed with the message of occupy but as it went on the people at these occupy sites got more and more douchey, public support dropped dramatically. Now there was a lot of misinformation put out by corporate owned media in an attempt to de-legitimize the movement but in some cases the protestors themselves were their own worst enemy.

I give occupy a AAA+ rating for idea but only a D for execution and the only reason it's a D and not an F is because if anything it did a conversation started and some policy in certain places are taking the issues raised by occupy protestors into account.

Anyone that hasn't watched this doc should give it a watch, if for nothing else just your own personal knowledge.

http://vimeo.com/25491676

[Common sense]

OV vows to be back by springtime; what are the odds the same problems follow them around in OV 2.0? (ODs, lack of leadership, no focus to the issues, blatant disregard for the law, media censorship, etc)

We’ll be back in the spring, Occupiers warn

Stung by comments from city officials about the costs of policing a tent protest in the downtown core, Occupy Vancouver members are warning there will be more events like it come spring.

Sarah Beuhler of the Occupy Vancouver communications committee said at a press conference Thursday that many protesters have regrets about a decision to peacefully dismantle the tent encampment at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

She said the tent city provided a real focal point for the movement and there are discussions under way about a possible return to that site or another location.

“What I have heard from the Occupy Wall Street movement is that this spring is going to be an explosion of encampments and an explosion of political expression, and I believe we’ll be part of that,” she said.

“I believe the movement as a whole is taking this winter to think about this sort of thing … we’ve made our point. People are aware of us. We’ve really brought a lot of attention. We’ve changed the national conversation. What we need to do now is consolidate our processes, work together …[and] whatever is coming next, we have to be ready for it,” Ms. Beuhler said.

She said Occupy Vancouver members were outraged by comments from city staff that pegged the cost of policing and resolving the protest at nearly $1-million.

A Dec. 19 memo to council from Penny Ballem, city manager, and Sadhu Johnston, deputy manager, stated the major cost was $590,000 in overtime payments to the Vancouver Police Department.

The engineering department, which provided sanitation in the form of portable toilets and grounds cleaning, billed $345,878, largely in overtime and materials. The emergency operations centre costs were put at $15,274 and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services incurred $16,730 in overtime and staffing costs, the memo states.

It says that Vancouver’s costs “are in-line with other North American cities dealing with the Occupy Movement,” noting that Portland, Ore., spent over $1.4-million in policing and park restoration, while Oakland, Calif., paid more than $2.4-million and New York police put in an overtime bill of over $7-million.

The memo said cost figures weren’t available yet for Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.

But Ms. Beuhler disputed the Vancouver estimates, saying the city failed to take into account all of the services the protesters provided, such as feeding people and making medical treatment available in the tent city.

“So what that space provided was [a place] where no one had to go searching for food all the time; the medical tent was there to take care [of people and] we generated a community that allowed us to look at the issues,” she said.

Ms. Beuhler noted that the tent camp provided shelter for 80 people, about 30 of whom would have otherwise been defined as “street homeless,” thereby providing a housing service the city should have been taking care of.

She said the estimated cost per mat for emergency shelters is $83 per night, which means that over the 37 days of the Vancouver Art Gallery occupation, “the protest site provided approximately $92,130 worth of housing services.”

Ms. Beuhler said city officials had promised to help homeless protesters find places to live, but 13 still remain without homes.

The protest began in Vancouver in October and the tent camp was dismantled last month.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/well-be-back-in-the-spring-occupiers-warn/article2281518/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2281518

[Common sense]

OV vows to be back by springtime; what are the odds the same problems follow them around in OV 2.0? (ODs, lack of leadership, no focus to the issues, blatant disregard for the law, media censorship, etc)

We'll be back in the spring, Occupiers warn

Stung by comments from city officials about the costs of policing a tent protest in the downtown core, Occupy Vancouver members are warning there will be more events like it come spring.

Sarah Beuhler of the Occupy Vancouver communications committee said at a press conference Thursday that many protesters have regrets about a decision to peacefully dismantle the tent encampment at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

She said the tent city provided a real focal point for the movement and there are discussions under way about a possible return to that site or another location.

"What I have heard from the Occupy Wall Street movement is that this spring is going to be an explosion of encampments and an explosion of political expression, and I believe we'll be part of that," she said.

"I believe the movement as a whole is taking this winter to think about this sort of thing … we've made our point. People are aware of us. We've really brought a lot of attention. We've changed the national conversation. What we need to do now is consolidate our processes, work together …[and] whatever is coming next, we have to be ready for it," Ms. Beuhler said.

She said Occupy Vancouver members were outraged by comments from city staff that pegged the cost of policing and resolving the protest at nearly $1-million.

A Dec. 19 memo to council from Penny Ballem, city manager, and Sadhu Johnston, deputy manager, stated the major cost was $590,000 in overtime payments to the Vancouver Police Department.

The engineering department, which provided sanitation in the form of portable toilets and grounds cleaning, billed $345,878, largely in overtime and materials. The emergency operations centre costs were put at $15,274 and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services incurred $16,730 in overtime and staffing costs, the memo states.

It says that Vancouver's costs "are in-line with other North American cities dealing with the Occupy Movement," noting that Portland, Ore., spent over $1.4-million in policing and park restoration, while Oakland, Calif., paid more than $2.4-million and New York police put in an overtime bill of over $7-million.

The memo said cost figures weren't available yet for Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.

But Ms. Beuhler disputed the Vancouver estimates, saying the city failed to take into account all of the services the protesters provided, such as feeding people and making medical treatment available in the tent city.

"So what that space provided was [a place] where no one had to go searching for food all the time; the medical tent was there to take care [of people and] we generated a community that allowed us to look at the issues," she said.

Ms. Beuhler noted that the tent camp provided shelter for 80 people, about 30 of whom would have otherwise been defined as "street homeless," thereby providing a housing service the city should have been taking care of.

She said the estimated cost per mat for emergency shelters is $83 per night, which means that over the 37 days of the Vancouver Art Gallery occupation, "the protest site provided approximately $92,130 worth of housing services."

Ms. Beuhler said city officials had promised to help homeless protesters find places to live, but 13 still remain without homes.

The protest began in Vancouver in October and the tent camp was dismantled last month.

http://www.theglobea...content=2281518

[Kamero89]

It's summer, and lookie at what happened with their prophecy.

[Common sense]

At least they tried to help. You probably voted Conservative, and think privatized healthcare is a good idea.

[Kamero89]

Why do my political views matter? ITT, we talk Occupy, not which party I voted for.

[The Situation]

Occupy Vancouver was mostly hijacked by homeless people from the DTES.

The original Occupy Wall Street was the movement which protested the ridiculous handouts to rich banks who dragged the economy to the ground and crony capitalism in general. The two movements didn't have much in common.

[Common sense]

It totally matters, because most people who are liberal minded sympathize with their cause. Also conservative minded Canadians are more likely to get their news from a mainstream source, while a lot of liberal minded people get their news from independent sources. You really think CTV was unbiased in covering this?

Also for anyone who voted "Conservative" and brags about how we have healthcare, the leader of the Conservative party, Mr Harper has said he admires the privatized American healthcare system. Saying this would make you the literal term of an "idiot".

[Kamero89]

Occupy Vancouver was mostly hijacked by homeless people from the DTES.

The original Occupy Wall Street was the movement which protested the ridiculous handouts to rich banks who dragged the economy to the ground and crony capitalism in general. The two movements didn't have much in common.

[Kamero89]

Why don't you go ahead and discuss the idea instead of the messenger?

edit: as I said, ITT we talk Occupy. Doing other wise is off-topic.

[Vapourstreak]

It was a LIBERAL/POLITICAL movement. It has everything to do with politics. If you do not have a retort to any of what I said, that presents real facts just say so.

The fact you don't think it was a political protest, means you completely misunderstood their cause.

[Jägermeister]

It totally matters, because most people who are liberal minded sympathize with their cause. Also conservative minded Canadians are more likely to get their news from a mainstream source, while a lot of liberal minded people get their news from independent sources. You really think CTV was unbiased in covering this?

Also for anyone who voted "Conservative" and brags about how we have healthcare, the leader of the Conservative party, Mr Harper has said he admires the privatized American healthcare system. Saying this would make you the literal term of an "idiot".

[Common sense]

Common sense's original post you quoted had nothing to do with their cause, or his political beliefs. You pulled the two out of the blue.