Less than one week after being evicted from St. James Park, a small group of Occupy Toronto protesters has quietly moved into a downtown building and constructed barricades inside.
The group’s new home is the basement of 238 Queen Street West, a large brick building that has been the subject of legal dispute between the city and its lessor, Queen St.-Patrick Market Inc.
At around 3 p.m. on Sunday, a handful of men were planning construction of barricades, with hardware and tools littering the space.
According to a member of Occupy Toronto’s food team who uses the pseudonym Antonin Smith, the group plans to eventually use part of the space to prepare food for the homeless. The space also contains roughly half a dozen offices and a large, central room suitable for meetings, which Mr. Smith says could be used by the group’s media, finance, and outreach departments.
First, though, the group will work “to become the legitimate lessor of this place.”
“Possession being nine-tenths of the law, we’ve already done the important part,” said Mr. Smith, adding “We’ll negotiate with the city and relevant authorities to make us the permanent occupier of this lovely location.”
A last-minute injunction following the city’s initial push for eviction on Nov. 15 granted the protesters a brief respite. The city evicted the occupiers from St. James Park on Nov. 23, two days after Justice David Brown found that it was within the city’s rights to do so.
Mr. Smith said the group is in touch with a real estate lawyer regarding their claim to the Queen St. space, but will squat in the hopes of eliciting a discussion with the city. Mayor Rob Ford and his supporters on council have maintained their opposition to the protest.
The group had meagre food supplies when the Globe toured the space on Sunday, but planned to bolster their stores before finishing the barricades.
Mr. Smith said that a core group of seven activists, all involved with food preparation at the St. James encampment, first moved into the space on Friday evening. They found the back door to the building unlocked and have since remained undetected.
The small food court on the main floor is under construction and not heavily patronized.
A report indicates that the city granted Market Inc. a 50-year lease in 1989 based partially on the understanding that it would have “ambience similar to the St. Lawrence Market.” The city, which is supposed to collect 10 per cent of the profit generated by the building’s business, took legal action against Market Inc. over its alleged failure to pay rental arrears.
No comments:
Post a Comment