Occupy Ottawa protesters pack up after receiving an eviction notice from the NCC.
Thirty-nine days. That’s how long it took for the National Capital Commission and the police to lose their patience with the occupiers in Confederation Park.
Police moved in early Wednesday on the sparsely populated camp, which had been crammed into the park fountain, barricaded behind pallets and posters. While the first snow fell from the sky, the last 25 hardcore occupiers were ushered out of the park.
Eight people were arrested, but they were released shortly after and fined $65 for trespassing. One protester was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and he was released.
“That is what democracy looks like,” an onlooker shouted while a protester was dragged into a waiting car by four police officers.
Despite the clash the Ottawa Police said later in a statement that the protesters co-operated and that the dismantling of the camp was peaceful.
The occupiers had been on borrowed time since Monday, when the police issued an eviction notice calling on them to leave the park before midnight that day to avoid arrest.
Occupy Ottawa officially decided to ignore the eviction notice, but some protesters decided to comply and they packed up their tents and left.
Before their removal, the holdout protesters remained defiant. Emotions ran high at a Monday night general assembly in the park, when they decided to flout the eviction order.
“We do not plan on giving up and we need to protect these investments (the community tents),” said protester Shane Davis-Young, who led the meeting. “We’re taking down the tents, not so the occupation can end, but so that it can continue.”
The anticipated clash with authorities drew many reporters to the campsite.
Despite the warning the police did not show up on Monday night, and when they quietly arrived Tuesday night all media had left.
The shutdown of Occupy Ottawa followed police evictions in several major Canadian cities, including Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Quebec City, Victoria and London, Ont.
Even though the occupy movement now temporarily lacks a place to occupy, the movement is far from dead, Ottawa protesters said.
“The movement doesn’t end at the camp. We will continue to get our message out through various media, regardless of whether we are here or elsewhere,” Davis-Young said.
Occupy protesters were inspired by a call to action against social and economical inequality.
The Occupy Ottawa movement is already planning future events such as demonstrations and strategy meetings in Confederation Park.
There is also a new call for action from Adbusters, the magazine that ignited the global occupy concept by asking people to show up with sleeping bags in Zucotti Park in New York in September.
The latest initiative from the Vancouver-based magazine is the idea of Occupy Christmas, encouraging people to boycott the Christmas shopping season.