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The Truth Ferry

Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry Occupied While Mayor Kelly, Veterans, and Occupiers Meet in a Tent.

by Miles Howe

Truth Ferry Photo: Miles Howe
Truth Ferry Photo: Miles Howe
Closed-tent meeting
Closed-tent meeting
Occupy the blue wave Photo: Miles Howe
Occupy the blue wave Photo: Miles Howe

The 4:30pm ferry from Dartmouth to Halifax briefly erupted with cheers of "We are the 99%!", as a small group of Occupiers from Parade Square handed out information flyers, and unfurled a banner.

"While we were on the boat we handed out flyers and information about October 29th's Tour de Finance march." said one Occupier. "The Tour de Finance is an information march. What we're doing is a tour of the headquarters of the five major banks in Halifax, which is basically to raise awareness of the problems with finance in a Canadian context. We're trying to dispel the myth that the banking crisis has been limited to Europe and the United States, and that Canada has emerged largely unscathed. We're trying to provide information to people, so that they can look into our movement, and see that there are some major problems going on in the Canadian banking system."

All those interested in participating in the Tour de Finance are encouraged to meet at Parade Square for a 1pm start time.

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In other news, it would appear that the Halifax Chronicle-Herald has jumped the proverbial gun in reporting that the Occupiers have refused to vacate Parade Square. Indeed, Mayor Kelly, a number of veterans, representatives from labour, and an emergency committee of Occupiers, met at Parade Square in an attempt to negotiate a respectful and mutually satisfactory conclusion to the issue of the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. All parties emerged from the closed-tent meeting satisfied at the dialogue that took place, and while no clear-cut conclusions were reached, the mood was far from confrontational.

On the table at the evening's General Assembly was the suggestion that Occupiers clean the Square, vacate temporarily on November 8th, paying proper respects for "Dignity Day" and Remembrance Day ceremonies, and then roll back into the Square on November 12th in a massive parade supported by members of the public-at-large.

"The labour movement throughout Nova Scotia has been following Occupy NS very closely, and has been extremely supportive of the movement as demonstrated by the contributions gathered at the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour general meeting." says Tony Tracy, regional representative of the Canadian Labour Congressl. "Should Occupiers decide to re-camp on Nov 12, the labour movement will stand in solidarity with the occupiers, and will stand shoulder to shoulder with them, in numbers, as they re-occupy Nova Scotia."

The proposal is to be voted on at Sunday evening's general assembly.

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In breaking news, David Rovics, the legendary songwriter of "social significance", has offered to do a free concert at Parade Square on Friday, November 4th. Of course, this will have to be run by the General Assembly as well.

 

 

 


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Comments

Bold action! Wonder how the

Bold action! Wonder how the ferry commuters responded?

Since the Occupy Nova Scotia movement is part of a worldwide peaceful protest, the subtitle is rather unfortunate under the circumstances: it pretty much makes Mayor Kelly look the fool, to have him secreted away in a "closed tent" with one group to negotiate about Nov. 11, while another group of protesters unfurls a banner on the ferry. Might want to rethink that. Opinon is still divided on the presence of ONS on the Grand Parade.

Also, I'd urge the editors and writer to subsribe to the principles of full disclosure and let readers know that Miles Howe is part of Occupy Nova Scotia and co-editor of Occupy Magazine. Honesty is always the best policy, right?

 

on disclosure

Thanks for your comments. Just a note on disclosure:

Whereas the Media Co-op does encourage full disclosure, most contributors are involved as activists or advocates of the issues they cover. As the vast majority of contributors are not paid, this is the only way the Media Co-op could work: with concerned folks reporting on their communities. That's how it was designed: as an open publishing site so anyone can post stories, events, photos, blogs, etc.

 

The site for the Halifax local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.