Tuesday’s May Day protests and re-Occupation continued on into Wednesday as roughly 75 demonstrators, some of whom had camped out over night in Simcoe Park, protested Barrick Gold’s annual general meeting at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Toronto-based Barrick is the world’s largest gold-mining firm, and has been criticized for both its environmental practices and [...]

A rally Sunday at Old City Hall, the objective of which was to demand an independent public inquiry into voter suppression during the 2011 federal election, turned out to be a bit of a non-event. With fewer than two dozen protesters gathered around a tent, listening to speeches blaring out of what looked a guitar [...]

With just four activists speaking to roughly a dozen members of the media (and one confused security guard) from behind a plexiglass podium, this morning’s announcement of the Toronto’s May Day events—a day of protests co-organized by the May 1st Movement, Occupy Toronto and No One is Illegal—was a bit anti-climatic. That said, the announcement [...]

Two summers ago, a lot of things we said about this government—then a minority—centered around its perceived slide towards authoritarianism. By July 2010, the Harper Conservatives had suspended parliament twice, both times out of naked self-interest, suggesting that the canary in the coal mine of Canada’s democracy was clinging with one claw to life. This [...]

WHERE: Yonge-Dundas Square WHEN: The afternoon of Saturday, March 10. WHAT: Several hundred members of Toronto’s Tibetan community and their supporters gathered in Parkdale and marched to Yonge-Dundas Square this weekend, to mark the anniversary of the 1959 rebellion against the occupation of Tibet by the army of the People’s Republic of China. (One poignant [...]

WHERE: Nathan Phillips Square WHEN: January 17, around 7 p.m. WHAT: During Tuesday night’s budget deliberations, a crowd of people gathered outside the doors of City Hall to protest budget cuts—some of the same cuts that were ultimately reversed by council. What began as a peaceful demonstration eventually escalated into a clash with police, whom [...]

WHERE: Yonge and Dundas WHEN: Saturday, 3:24 p.m. WHAT: “We have to say enough is enough in Congo.” Drumming, chanting, and dancing protesters shut down Yonge and Dundas at 3 p.m. today. At press time the group of about 200 protesters was south on Yonge with a large police escort including bike and mounted officers. [...]

Budget Deputations: Day One 8:47 PM: Last speaker of the evening: Hamish Wilson. Opening line: “Cars are subsidized.” Frank Di Giorgio: drivers just saw an 8% hike in gas prices. Aren’t they paying enough? And with that, deputations for budget 2012 are done. Thanks for following along! We’ll be back for some preliminary votes tomorrow. [...]

WHERE: University Avenue, starting outside the U.S. Consulate and proceeding north to Queen’s Park WHEN: 2–3 p.m. today WHAT: Outraged over the ongoing state of crisis, and in anticipation of election results expected later tonight, approximately 150 protesters marched today to ask for international assistance for the Congo. They began at Queen’s Park, marched down [...]

Dave Vasey is what one might call a seasoned protester; he was arrested twice during the G20 protests (“I was the G20 fence guy,” he explains with a low chuckle), and had been camping at the Occupy Toronto protest site at St. James Park from the camp’s mid-October setup until last week’s eviction. While the [...]

Despite fears that police would move aggressively against the Occupy Toronto camp in St. James Park, today’s early morning move by officers to begin clearing out the tents has been markedly slow, measured, and calm. “The most polite assertion of fascism I’ve ever seen,” cracked one protester—and indeed officers have been saying “please” a lot [...]