On Oct. 15, the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon came home to Vancouver, as thousands of enthusiastic demonstrators filled up the square in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Occupy Vancouver action was one of over 1,000 held around the world on that day. So far, as this column is being prepared, the local anti-greed and pro-equality activists have conducted themselves with admirable dignity and restraint, with none of the random street violence that splashed our citys embarrassment across world headlines during the Stanley Cup riots. Maybe a commitment to equality draws a different and more peaceful crowd than hockey fights. Who knew?
A few forlorn figures in the ominous full mask and hoody look were visible in the crowd on Oct. 15, but the movements commitment to non-violence prevailed in Vancouver, as it did at most of the global actions.
Some local politicians have been guardedly supportive. Both incumbent mayor Gregor Robertson of Vision Vancouver and NPA candidate and incumbent councillor Suzanne Anton have told local media that they see the Occupy Vancouver events as raising legitimate issues, and that they support its continued presence at the Art Gallery so long as public order and hygiene are maintained.
COPE council candidate Tim Louis was more enthusiastic, saying that he was ecstatic about the occupation. They are doing what no other movement or group has been successful in doing, he said. They are getting [people] to talk about wealth distribution."
At a time when voter participation rates are falling in most elections around the world, the Occupy movement has mobilized wide ranging participation from young people, the poor and other marginalized groups that often figure prominently in any account of those who dont vote. One of the most popular chants during Saturdays march through the downtown business district was This is what democracy looks like, and the Occupy participants have been impressively patient with the daunting process required to achieve consensus decisions at their encampments in city squares around the world. Perhaps there are some important democratic lessons for city politicians to learn from Occupy Vancouver.
The first lesson is that people are not inalterably apathetic, and, if given a process that they can believe in, they will turn out and work for change. All city parties need to conduct a serious examination of conscience about just how plausible their pitches are to those who are clearly hungry for real democratic engagement. Do they invite voters to support them on polling day and then expect them to shut up for the next three years? Do they genuinely offer channels for citizen input ? Do they dismiss folks who take the trouble to speak at city hall hearings as hacks? Do their voting records while in power even remotely resemble the promises they make during a campaign? Do they reveal the identity of their donors and the size of donations in time to inform voters before an election? Better answers to those questions would build higher voter participation rates.
Perhaps the second important lesson is that many people care passionately about the movements core issues of equality, fairness and environmental sanity. True, the Occupy events are big tent efforts with room for everything from serious concerns about social justice, sexism, racism, equality, global warming and diversity to topics like vegan diet and animal liberation that will strike many readers as risible. But there is nothing comic about the issues of human dignity and survival that are highlighted by the occupiers, and they have demonstrated that they are willing to take serious steps to address them. Who knows? Perhaps city politicians like Tim Louis and his COPE colleagues, who share so many values with the Occupy Vancouver demonstrators, will, bolstered by new voters, do better than predicted in the upcoming city election. Then they will be left with the exhilarating and daunting task of translating what makes sense on the street into what works in council chambers.
