

The Canadian Press





TORONTO - In the beginning, there was a Canadian magazine's suggestion of a protest occupation of Wall Street, along with the single question: What is our one demand?

No one predicted that the few dozen activists who decided to act on the idea, first kicked about in Adbusters magazine in July and inspired by "Arab Spring" demonstrators in Cairo, would quickly spawn a global movement with numerous demands, some contradictory.

At its core, though, is the shared belief that government-abetted corporate greed has served a few elites -- the one per cent -- at the expense of the vast majority of people -- the 99 per cent.

"We are the 99 per cent!" is a slogan now heard or seen at the various rallies.

Few, however, were paying any attention back then in mid-September, when a couple of hundred banksterism-denouncing activists took over a park near Wall Street in lower Manhattan looking to express that belief.

Their action ignited a grassroots brushfire as "slacktivists" -- those who do little more than click a "like" button on Facebook or otherwise spread the message through social media -- spurred on those willing to leave their computers and bed down in a park.

The media, which initially all but ignored the protests, took notice when police used pepper spray on marchers in New York, and celebrities, such as Roseann Barr and Michael Moore, weighed in.

"They have tried to take our democracy and turn it into a kleptocracy," Moore told the Manhattan protesters.

The protests, although largely peaceful, have led to hundreds of arrests in cities such as New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.

Left-wing Canadian writer, Naomi Klein said the movement had "enormous potential" and deserved widespread support.

"Maybe our one demand should be of ourselves: Care enough to do something," Canada's best known scientist, David Suzuki, wrote this week.

For Canadians, what started with "Occupy Wall Street" comes home to roost on Saturday, with protests planned across the country, from St. John's, NL., to Victoria.

Other Canadian cities expected to see protests are Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, Fredericton, Guelph, Ont., Windsor, Ont., Nanaimo, B.C., and Ottawa.

One of the largest demonstrations is expected to be directed at the country's financial heart: "Occupy Bay Street."

The movement eschews traditional organizational structures. There are no formally designated leaders, yet there are those who take on leadership roles.

"Without leaders, without demands, they've been able to launch a national conversation the likes of which America hasn't seen for a couple of generations," said Adbusters co-founder Kalle Lasn.

Protest plans have been thrashed out at "general assemblies," then disseminated and debated by both activists and slacktivists via the Internet.

Safety and legal tips are exchanged, street medics lined up.

Plans are in place to feed Occupy Bay Street protesters, who insist that Saturday's demonstration -- like the ongoing one near Wall Street -- will be just the start.

Online discussion rages about what the aims are, what the demands are.

Increasingly, the amorphous movement has begun to solidify. Slowly, the powerful have begun taking note.

President Barack Obama said last week the swelling protest had tapped a vein of frustration felt by Americans at the "huge collateral damage" cause by the financial meltdown.

"You're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place," Obama said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday called the situation in Canada "very different" from that in the U.S., saying there were no bank bailouts in this country.



