Occupy has become the NDP’s lost puppy.
A couple weeks ago I wrote about Take Canada Back– an initiative to get Occupiers to travel to Ottawa for ‘the mother of protests’. I left a warning for people that the entire tone of the event seemed a bit dodgy- perhaps the NDP and the unions were going to use Occupy or their own benefit. Well, that happened- and it happened in style…
People from Occupy Toronto left early yesterday morning, on a 6:30am bus. They marched through Ottawa to Parliament Hill where people made a number of speeches. As you can see from the picture, the focus was mainly on Stephen Harper. This is a bit of a mistake- Occupy was never supposed to be about partisan politics, it was about fixing the political system.
Luckily, many people who went to the event do feel that same way. But, unfortunately, as Adbuster’s Kalle Lawsn pointed out on the CBC last week– the unions and the ‘old-left’ have hijacked the movement to be something different than what it was intended. Yesterday’s event is the perfect example of this.
If you want proof of this, just look at the speakers list- in particular, three people. First there was the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Sid Ryan! Yep, all those Occupiers chipped-in for transportation costs to go to a union rally! And, Ryan was not at all bashful to push his partisan politics- here’s a great quote from his speech:
“We need to turn this success (of the Occupy movement) into electoral success,” Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan told the crowd on the steps of Parliament. “We need to vote this bum out of office.”
What happens when/if Harper is pushed out of office? Well, of course, the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair will become PM- right? The Liberals are too deflated right now to win, and it is doubtful there will be another Conservative PM if Harper is voted out of office.
Other speakers included Larry Rousseau (regional vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada), and the darling of the NDP- Brigitte DePape. The Toronto Star interviewed on of the Activistocrats- Lana Goldberg, an active promoter of union causes.
So, it appears that Occupy Toronto is still fulfilling its role as a lapdog for the NDP and the unions. This is such a shame because Occupy was meant to be so much more than that. About half of the Occupiers don’t have the intention to promote the NDP yesterday. But, until things change, when you hear the word “Occupy” you can be pretty certain the media is talking about the NDP…
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Oh look its POOR Sakura Saunders equally poor hubby, Darius Mirishi ( sp ) trying to be the bad assed rapper. I wonder if he needed to ask mommy and daddy if he can borrow the car . Naw, he has his own
Sid Ryan is a slime ball. He embodies the worst charactoristics of a union leader and an activistocrat. When Occupy Toronto had their camp dismantled by the police everything was going smoothly. The police were acting professional, not being dicks about it. And the remaining Occupiers were acting with class. Leaving peacefully, not causing a scene, not getting violent, not giving the public reason to be against them. Then OFL present Sid Ryan showed up with his entourage and started agitating. Trying to get Occupiers to violently resist the police. Thankfully they ignored him. When challenged by a Sun News reporter Brother Sid assaulted her and called her a s@!t disturber. Right on camera after she asked if he was seeking face time for the OFL:
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/1292184663001
Now Sun News has a certain political view point that differs wildly from that of Brother Sid. Still though, it does not excuse his behaviour.
As a CUPE leader Sid Ryan used CUPE to attack Israel. CUPE represents support staff at Ontario universities. He tried to use that position to bully Ontario Universities into banning Israeli professors from teaching at Ontario Univerisites unless they signed a document agreeing with his policies. It amounted to a ban on all Jews since all Jews are technically Israeli citizens. Of Brother Sid did not demand the same treatment for Chinese, American, Saudi or Iranian professors. All of whom come from countries with a poor international reputation. Only Jews were his target:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/01/21/sid-ryan%E2%80%99s-foreign-policy-includes-only-israel/
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That was a great video from Occupy- just what I expected from the guy…
The core of occupy, the people who actually lived at the camps and did all the work were primarily lower working class people, labourers, etc., and street people, and the activistocrats who jumped in once they saw the numbers and the potential have basically gutted it and turned it into another stupid NGO following the same activist model they’ve been trained in, the one that middle class university indoctrinated professionals are comfortable with. The street element, the lower working class occupiers shouldn’t be saying ‘screw occupy’ and walking away from it, they should be voting the activistocrats out and taking the movement back again.