If last week’s eviction notice was the beginning of the end for Occupy Toronto’s scrappy camp in St. James Park, today’s ruling by Justice David Brown of the Ontario Superior Court is something like the middle of the end. As Torontoist reports, Brown concluded that the city was well within its rights to turf protesters. “The Charter does not permit the protesters to take over public space without asking, exclude the rest of the public from enjoying their traditional use of that space, and then contend that they are under no obligation to leave.” (Councillor Doug Ford, ever gracious in victory, was heard quipping to reporters that “Woodstock Toronto is all over.”) This ruling puts the ball back in the city’s court—although Rob Ford has already indicated he wants the occupiers to leave “as soon as possible” and city manager Joe Pennachetti has said he hopes everyone will be out, voluntarily, by midnight, there’s currently no official deadline for when they need to clear the park. It seems there’s just no appetite for a repeat of last year’s G20 debacle friendly tête-à-tête between protesters and police. Read the entire story [Torontoist] »
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Judge upholds city’s eviction order for Occupy Toronto; Doug Ford muses about the end of “Woodstock Toronto”
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“The Charter does not permit the protesters to take over public space without asking, exclude the rest of the public from enjoying their traditional use of that space, and then contend that they are under no obligation to leave.”
Im glad our legal system was not shattered by this case.
November 21, 2011 at 11:59 am | by AE