Occupy Nova Scotia received permanent eviction notices after they temporarily moved their tents for Remembrance Day.

Police officers descended on the group’s new camp in Victoria Park to dismantle their tents in the pouring rain on Friday afternoon, said Brian Crouse, an Occupy N.S. organizer.

There have been “about a dozen” arrests, Crouse estimated, adding that there was pushing and “bundles of fighting” between protesters and police as people sat on tents, determined not to be kicked out.

“Council and the public have respected the right to peaceful protest and free assembly, but the time has come for the encampment to end,” said Peter Kelly, the Mayor of Halifax.

“Our parks are for all of the public, not an unregulated campground for some.”

In a bid to respect Remembrance Day ceremonies planned for the Grand Parade — Halifax’s main square and the site of the original Occupy encampment — the protesters had moved their camp to Victoria Park earlier this week.

Minutes after the Remembrance Day events were completed, city officials delivered printed notices to the new tent camp with a clear message: move out.

A bylaw states that no one can camp in a park without the city’s written permission.

The protesters had planned to move back to the Grand Parade on Nov. 12 and remain indefinitely. But Kelly said the campers will not be allowed to erect tents again in Grand Parade.

The city says the same bylaw that applies to parks also applies to Grand Parade.

A few hundred people have gathered at Victoria Park to determine the protesters next course of action, Crouse said.

“We’re trying to keep things as peaceful as we can while still making a stand,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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