By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday May 24, 2012
Occupy Montreal movement joins Quebec student protesters
Occupy Montreal has passed to the next level.
Thanks to the student protests, organizers say the movement now occupies the city in a way it never dreamed before – every day and every night.
“Participants in Occupy Montreal have been helping out with the student protests since the beginning of the strike,” said Paul Bode, 31, an Occupy activist who has a long association with the movement.
“It’s a common cause, and we’re happy to go back and forth between the two,” said Bode, a Westmount-raised community activist who teaches English, works in construction and lives in St. Henri.
“But in fact, we view Occupy Montreal as a verb, right? And basically, right now the students are occupying Montreal, and we’re helping out with that,” he added before heading out to join Tuesday’s march at Place des Festivals.
So does that make Occupy itself a bit redundant?
Not at all. It means the movement can now shift its focus away from downtown, Bode and other organizers say.
Instead of squatting in Montreal’s financial district for weeks like it did before being evicted last fall – and did again for a few days earlier this month, minus any overnight stays – Occupy activists will target Montreal’s boroughs over several weekends this summer.
In each instance, their occupation will serve to highlight a local issue, such as social inequality, and to “act locally.” First up: a neighborhood of the Plateau Mont-Royal in June. (Source: Montreal Gazette)