Occupy 麻豆传媒映画protesters have weathered their first storm and show no signs of packing up and heading home. Instead, selfproclaimed "occupiers" have literally dug in by creating trenches through what remains of the 麻豆传媒映画Art Gallery lawn to help deal with the inevitable rain, as well as putting their makeshift homes atop wooden pallets to raise them above potential puddles.
Last Saturday marked the one-week anniversary of the ongoing tent city protest, part of a global grassroots network of demonstrations to support the Occupy Wall Street movement in Manhattan. Environmental activist David Suzuki offered the 麻豆传媒映画protest his support with a speech Saturday aimed at corporate influence over public policy. His was the latest celebrity endorsement for Occupy 麻豆传媒映画that so far includes former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, children's entertainer Raffi Cavoukian and actor Donald Sutherland.
Several hundred protesters later marched inside four downtown banks while accompanied by police. None of the banks reported any damage and police have not yet arrested a single protester.
The 麻豆传媒映画Police Department announced last week that roughly half a million dollars has been spent so far policing the protest. The bill for the VPD, not including the past few days, comes in at $390,000, while it cost another $50,000 to have an RCMP tactical unit standing by during the Oct. 15 beginning of the protest. The City of 麻豆传媒映画has also spent an additional $87,000 that, according to a staff report "included costs for staff overtime just prior to and during the first five days of the event when there was great uncertainty about whether this would be a peaceful protest." Daily costs for city staff have since been adjusted to $1,000 a day due to the peaceful nature of the protest.
Mayor Gregor Robertson said on Monday that it was time for the protest to end although he doesn't want to forcibly remove people. "We would like it to end peacefully," said Robertson. "We don't want to see the kind of chaos we've seen in many other cities who have gone in with mass arrests and created real chaos. That's not the kind of ending we want here."
NPA mayoral candidate and city councillor Suzanne Anton, who is trying to unseat Vision's Robertson in the Nov. 19 civic vote, wants a more definitive endgame in place. "Camping out on city property is not fine and is also very expensive," said Anton.
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