Scene: Toronto's Manif Casserole
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Scene: Toronto’s Manif Casserole

Torontonians break out the pots and wooden spoons to rally in support of the Quebec student strike.

By • Photos by Dean Bradley and Christopher Drost


WHERE: Dufferin Grove, through the streets to Dundas and Gladstone, and eventually near Bathurst and Bloor

WHEN: Wednesday, May 30, 8 p.m.–12 a.m.

WHAT: Canadians in cities across the country took to the streets last night, marching in solidarity with Quebec students who have been protesting tuition increases and recent government attempts to clamp down on those protests. Toronto’s manif casserole was good-humoured and upbeat. People gathered at Dufferin Grove and then marched along major and residential streets, out-manoeuvring police several times along the way: a lead group would march along while several meters back the rest of the crowd would turn down a different street. There were many shows of support as they went, people coming out of their homes with pots and pans to cheer on marchers—who in turn were handing out red squares to people they passed.

When the march arrived at Gladstone and Dundas, several of the marchers tried to convince the participants to move east along Dundas towards downtown, warning people in the crowd to leave if they had children with them. Event organizers quickly engaged this splinter group, after several heated arguments the crowd turned west (not east) onto Dundas. By about 11 p.m. the rally had made its way north to Christie Pits then headed east along Bloor, and finally down to Queen and Spadina; participants dispersed peacefully into the night around midnight.

Reporting by Dean Bradley.

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