Police talking to Occupy Vancouver protest organizers

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      Vancouver police say they've held "preliminary discussions" with organizers of the upcoming Occupy Vancouver protest.

      The October 15 demonstration is being inspired by the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City.

      "We have already engaged in dialogue with self-identified organizers and we expect that we will communicate further with them in the coming days," Const. Jana McGuinness, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department, said in a news release today (October 7).

      According to police, the number of people who will attend the protest is unknown. The department says it will be talking with businesses in the area which may be concerned about the event.

      "Legal protests and demonstrations in Vancouver are welcome, and people are free to gather in any public space as long as their actions are legal," McGuinness said.

      Occupy Vancouver is scheduled to begin at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Protesters are asked to bring tents.

      "We realize that our social, economic, and political structures are broken. This is more than just a protest 'against' something. It is about coming together as people, acknowledging things are broken, and working together to fix them," the Occupy Vancouver website states.

      The protest's Facebook event page advises participants to be ready to march on "Capitalist Hot Spots" in the vicinity.

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Facebook and Twitter.

      Comments

      13 Comments

      Steve Newton

      Oct 7, 2011 at 12:42pm

      Can't they get the Stanley Cup involved somehow?

      Arthur Vandelay

      Oct 7, 2011 at 2:07pm

      Occupy Wall Street was a protest against the organized fraud that went on during the sub-prime mortgage scandal and the fact that nobody has been charged as a result of it. What's Occupy Vancouver protesting? I mean really, why don't you just try voting instead.

      Denise

      Oct 7, 2011 at 2:23pm

      Arthur are You the 1 percent?

      Maxim W

      Oct 7, 2011 at 4:19pm

      I have voted, and unfortunately real estate prices are still skyrocketing in step with the homeless population, poverty rates, unemployment, and tuition. If 'our' so called politicians and 'leaders' don't have any answers or solutions (for fear of shaking their privilege), we'll have to fix the situation ourselves. There is plenty to bring light to in vancouver, from the original occupation of this stolen land, to the corrupt and destructive business practices of many corporations with offices all over this city. Look into enbridge or goldcorp for example. If you don't see any problems, then you are either ignorant or part of the 1%. Good luck

      Wish I could be there

      Oct 7, 2011 at 6:12pm

      IMO, This protest show go well. There should be more 'Hero of the riot' type people than 'villain of the riot' people. A protest where anarchists with establishment issues would/should use their talents for constructive rather than destructive goals.

      And something to ponder; You wouldn't do what you do if somebody else didn't do what they did. 1% or 99% we are all links in a chain as strong as the weakest link.

      Gentleman Jack

      Oct 7, 2011 at 8:09pm

      Great work, Maxim, US or THEM thinking! You're so sophisticated!

      I dunno about everyone else, but I am the 1/6.97 billion x 100%

      Group Identity is soooo atavistic and 20th century...can't stand on your own two feet, gotta have that enwombing experience of being within a group, like you're still in utero? Don't worry, you never have to get born if you don't want to, just pretend you're still inside of mommy 99%! Your cares will be taken care of!

      anonymousz

      Oct 8, 2011 at 12:00am

      occupy movement is leaderless however, adopting anonymous methodology this is awesome because then anybody randomly talking to the camera is the official spokesperson. we all now have a manifesto to troll the media with.

      the point of these protests is to show our dissent for the corporatist/industrialist age which always seems to come back in fashion dressed in new colours ready to be accepted again a few years after we cast it's chains.

      a thousand years from now our descendents will ponder how we lived in such barbaric times, this seemingly concrete destiny and ideology we adhere to now by then just being a paragraph in a school history textbook about the dark ages. the cult of the market and their invisible hand disciples will have long faded into history beside the other failed ideologies we erased from our evolution.

      Profiteering, corporate feudalism, speculation and technocrats shaping our society through abstract utopian social engineering that clings to a false ideology which has been historically proven false dozens of times will no longer be tolerated.

      The cultists of the invisible hand of the marketplace that somehow magically solves all our problems always argue we haven't totally adhered to their absolutism ideology. If only we cut back more money, if only we deregulated absolutely everything.. then the system would work.

      The ages go by and we continue to let them rehash this utterly failed system. The great thing about democracy is we don't have to tolerate this, we can simply throw you all out whenever we want. You represent us, not an insane one way ticket back in time to the 1800s to repeat the same failed social and economic policies.

      Where are the promised future aeons? Why do we deny our own historical truths? Solon of Athens cast off the chains of debt and grew the foundations of western democracy. He did it by saying fuck you and your money. Lenders were simply exiled if they didn't like it. Nobody should own a society. Fuck the debt, and fuck the messianic petty dictators of Jesuit reason that manipulate their way into representation then screw us over for their own personal profit and ideological fantasies.

      Cops should join us, and tell the business association to go fuck themselves. Last time I checked they hire private security and lobby our legislature for a regional police force anyways. Spray capsaicin in our face and arrest us if you want to condemn your own future and your children which are your own legacy on earth.

      It's just ideology. They change every couple of decades but seems like inevitability at the time. When my kid takes Can history 101 in 2031 this will all be condemned as laughable superstition. In 3031 money won't even exist, the little half page dedicated in history textbooks to our time of industrial corporate slavery will probably be a few paragraphs down from cavemen.

      monty/that's me

      Oct 8, 2011 at 9:49am

      @Gentleman Jack Well, la-de-da. You must be well ensconced in your bubble not to notice that this country like the US is in trouble: rising food prices, rising gas prices, rising rents, no affordable housing and on and on. Then there is an entire generation who can't find decent jobs.

      Then there are seniors facing the reality of no increase in CPP or OAS since 2008.

      When is it you leave for Palm Springs?

      Gentleman Jack

      Oct 10, 2011 at 4:29pm

      I am already there, monty, it's 98 degrees in my head!

      Dude Yah

      Oct 10, 2011 at 4:43pm

      There is a reason why we don't vote. Your consent is creating the suffering of the world!

      Find your heart people and clear your mental problems that divide us!

      http://meltingpennies.wordpress.com/