Occupy Montreal – Day 18

By: Paula Monroy

November 1, 2011 – Place des Peuples

During the evening, an argument between members of the Anarchist group and the Militia led to the stabbing of the hospital that stands North-West of the camp, right next to Rue Saint Antoine. The GA was delayed.

A friendly weather, which allowed the meeting to occur on the surface again, did not seem to be reason for the GA to continue. Because there were not enough people to have a quorum, the GA was changed to a discussion group. No more than 30 people stayed.

The Finances Committee was not happy with this, members had handed out their proposition regarding the security of  the money accumulated from donations.

Their proposition is broken down in three sections: Key holders, Donations and Auditors. The idea is simple, the money will be kept in a float box with only 4 keys available, and two people will be key holders and two more auditors. It reads, “We need two key holders [that]  will be responsible for the daily finances so at least one key holder must be on camp each evening[…]The keyholders are the only people who can remove money from the donations bin[…]All requests for reimbursements and payments are made at Donations[…]Once per week, one auditor, one keyholder, and one witness are responsible to count the total donations”. The committee explained that this is the best they came up with for now, participants thanked them.

Some announcements

Action Committee invited everyone to a march on the 7th at 2pm. “We will go to Hydro-Quebec“, calling for artists to call for the media “so we are broadcasted”.

Another demonstration will occur this Thursday at 5:30pm against imperialism.

Also on Thursday, the city is expected to remove water irrigators under the tents.

An over-expected visit

Offering free coffee and timbits, three fire fighters joined to the meeting. The reason being P-51, a law fire regulation. “Candles and combustion engines inside the tents are not allowed”. They recommended campers to buy propane heaters made for tents with no carbon dioxide emissions.

In reaction, participants asked them to join them on the 14th of November “because we need the fire department recommendation to get a permit from the city to get electricity”.

Regarding peace and the militia

Due to the incident from earlier in the evening, a member of the Juridical Committee suggested the creation of a peace declaration. “We have to react as a collective”, he added.

At the beginning of the meeting, someone suggested to exclude the right-wing from the occupation. Nonetheless, it ended with the following, “We are defining what the problems are, we need this before making decisions”, emphasizing, “We are defining who we are”.

So far, the militia have joined the Mediation Committee, responsible to intervene between disputes and bring about reconciliation. In addition, they want to join the movement as civilians.

Someone addressed the fact that the militia is well organized “when they say they are going to do something, they do it…I cannot understand why we are not doing it.”

The meeting ended with music and dancing. The GA dissolved before the end.

Occupy Montreal – Day 15

By: Paula Monroy

October 29, 2011 – Place des Peuples

The GA is moved back to the surface so the public can see it in action. Coughs and sneezes follow each other, a man wipes his nose with his scarf. The GA starts while the agonizing breath of autumn undressed the lining trees around.

Richard Lupien from the Action Committee proposes to read a text about peace, written by journalist Richard Hedges. “Everyone will lie down”, he adds.

The toilets continue being an issue (costs, particularly). According to the Finances Committee, “we are spending $150 dollars a day”. A short debate starts after someone proposes to charge 50 cents to use a facility. The argument ends in an invitation to use the toilets in the camp during the night, “You can go to other public washrooms nearby, maps are available inside of our facilities”, adding “Donations are welcome!”.

Environmentally friendly

The Environment Committee, renamed as the Environmental Group Committee, proposes that the organic waste produced in the occupation be used to create garden roofs. The team emphasized that “the camp is a clear example that change is possible.”

The proposal is adopted and cheered.

The Environmental group also proposed to have the camp officially recognized as a community, naming it People’s Village.

“What does it imply legally?” An participant asks. The Juridical Committee will refer to lawyers and get more information about the possibility.

For sale?

Jamie proposes to avoid selling things in the camp, arguing that money should be avoided. After debating on the reality of money, the proposal was changed and adopted. From now on things can be sold, but profits will be used for the camp.

Police

A last minute proposal concerning the march was adopted with one block from a university student, also member of the Action Committee. The Juridical Committee has been talking with the police, “I talked with a police officer…he asked us to change the direction of the march, just so we are in the same direction of the traffic.”

“We want to be pacifists, not passive”, commented the student opposing the decision.

Mark, from the Juridical Committee highlighted that “the police wants to collaborate with us so the march can be from the people to the people”.

The GA concludes.

More to see

Artists arrive dressed like Robin Hood and bankers giving eggs.

A man from Zacatecas, Mexico, stands with a poncho that reads “Viva Mexico, muerte al neoliberalismo financiero” (Long live Mexico, death to the financial neoliberalism). In his opinion, “It is sad to see that not a lot of people want to get involved in this kind of movements, youth specially”.

The march was directed to the US embassy downtown.

Occupy Montreal – Day 13

By: Paula Monroy

Montreal has began removing her autumn garment, soon she will put on her white coat of winter. The morning welcomes us with a chilly breath and a sunny glare.

October 27, 2011 – Square-Victoria metro station

The 13th General Assembly was set underground. Surrounded by the Rue Saint- Jaques, Centre de Commerce Mondial and Place Victoria entrances, people pass by – some ignoring the protesters, others showing curiosity.

Today the dynamic changed. The GAs will happen only 3 times during the week: Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday. These will be days for decision making, the other days (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) will be informal meetings dedicated for discussion.

There was a proposal to leave Sunday on the loose; nonetheless, because “we want to have as many meetigs as possible for people who cannot be here often” as the girl who proposed the schedule explained, it was turned down.

To arrive to this decision, the assembly was divided into smaller groups. In each group, ideas and opinions were shared concerning the change of the GA’s agenda. Some groups were bilingual, others trilingual. Then, the groups dissolved and only the people who took notes, formed a new group. One by one, each stood in front of the assembly and shared a summary of conclusions made in their previous group. Debate went on.

Communal huts 

Starting on Monday, Housing Committee plans on start building tipis that will replace the tents of Place des Peuples. Each tipi will shelter a maximum of 5 individuals. Today at 9:30am was the first meeting with the campers, “Note, you MUST attend this meeting in order to find a place in a (warm!) hut this winter” was highlighted.

Money?

A total of $10,000 CA were received in donations, half of it is left. At least 25% was spent in the maintenance of washrooms, which seemed to worry everyone. The Finances Committee is looking for options to put the money in a safe place, suggesting to open a bank account – which, of course, was not appealing. “We need to start looking for other alternatives, then.”

Pacifism 

The Security Committee talked about the march that will happen on Saturday. He said “If there are problems, we will sit on the ground.”, this applies in cases of violence. For instance, if someone starts breaking windows or if the police turns violent (in this situation, everyone is responsible of taking photos and record the abuses for proof).

The GA concluded seven minutes after 9pm.

now, now, now, now, now. now, now is the time. now now now.

By: Jean-Pier Goyer

Grand is the time which is spent wisely.

I flew without wings, traveled without moving bravely in a world that wasn’t mine, at first and then I had to find my way through new ideas and back to me. Like a pirate on the high seas, I navigated from above at first, exploring the newly discovered, loosely formed archipelago of hope, just under that massive Greed continent.

From the outsider, this is a fascinating event in history; out of nothing forms tiny islands of love, inhabited with concepts of love and sharing and it’s beautiful, a bright new world, daring and engaging in a myriad of ways, all too strange for an outsider to consider wise to explore, given that I have doubts over the profitability of such a venture. Yet as a true explorer, I wanted to get inside, and feel the essence of those savages. So I got closer to the shores and soon found myself on its beaches and what I saw was beautiful.

A small community of people who shared freely their food and ideas, their time and labour, living in small but warm tents, filled with this human warmth which seem so rare on the Greed continent’s major cities. When these radicals had a problem, they discussed about it on the public place and when the time for decision came, they had no leaders, preferring to debate within their citizenry to come up with the best idea possible, I am not quite sure how they managed to do it thus far.

The food is mostly vegetarian; the people are pacifists and they are so curious about a wide array of topics. After a week of contact, I am not quite certain what they want and it makes me uneasy. It seems that  they have different ways than us but it is so different I can’t explain what it feels like to be part of them, to be part of history and to explore all of which can be explored, even concepts that seem so distant yet within reach.

This is happening and from a pirate vantage point, it feels like I am a renegade from all this corruption, and lies and greed and war and deceit from my native land and I feel myself going rogue, into this new world, not of land but of ideas, of change and hope and I have come to meet, through extensive exploration that I am not alone. There are people investigating these new islands of solidarity, of human feeling and common something that pushes us forward into the great unknown of the future.

The bounty had always been luck because some pirates have access to very fast motorboats, which can circle the world swiftly while we are stuck in a loosely formed archipelago that forms a global power to be reckoned with. But because of its pacifist nature, it instil the weird sensation that it just might be the way. Something toward a better future for all of us, something like an escape from consumerism into a bold new land where food and thoughts are free. Where human dignity is on the agenda and where decisions are done by the people and by consensus.

Instead of booking your night into a lonesome watching television, come watch what’s happening worldwide, come explore the brave new world that is forming upon us, the new world that 99% of us can embrace. A world that is being built with our hands and with our minds, reflecting the many, giving a voice to the voiceless.