Occupy returns?

Occupy Thunder Bay protesters have come out of hibernation and returned to city hall albeit with the fewest number of people yet.

The movement has continued across Canada and internationally since its inception last year. A group of activists started the movement in New York City when they occupied a park near Wall Street’s financial district. The movement intended to protest corporate greed and lack of government accountability.

Since the last protest in the city, the Thunder Bay Occupy chapter has remained vigilant through its Facebook group often updating members on current events.

The group scheduled a protest for Saturday with around 60 people agreeing to show but only five people actually attended.
Occupy Thunder Bay protests haven’t fared well in the past in terms of drawing large crowds.

Around 30 people attended the first rally at Waverly Park last October and about a week later, that number ballooned to more than 50 outside city hall. A month later, the winter weather kept most indoors with around 30 willing to stand outside in the cold.

Richard Hewitt, a student at Lakehead University, has attended all the Occupy protests in town. He’s attended those protests because he said the way all levels of government have been operating is concerning as well as the way the economy is set up.

He’s noticed that they haven’t had the same kind of draw as other cities have and said they need to reorganize to keep the movement alive in Thunder Bay.

“I think there’s a lot of reasons why Thunder Bay residents haven’t been rallying behind the Occupy banner as much as we wished they could,” Hewitt said. “One of the main concerns I think we had is the group in general has not been transitioning to an action oriented phase. The challenge for us going forward is getting the group solidified and moving onto to accomplishing some things.”

He said the local Occupy movement has a core group who are passionate about the cause.

The cold winter weather also didn’t help matters much for those who wanted to come out to the protests, he added.