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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Coverage of the Toronto Days of Action - Article﻿</title>﻿
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﻿<b﻿>﻿Toronto Shut Down Oct. 25 ﻿&amp;﻿ 26 
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by Tamara Eberle and Mitchell Shore﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿


The October Metro-Toronto Days of Action were two of the most important days of protest in recent Canadian history. First Nations, social justice activists, trade unionists, students, teachers, parents and their children and numerous other groups participated. An estimated 1200 busses were booked from all over Ontario and neighboring provinces and states. Hundreds of thousands participated over the two days of striking, picketing and demonstratings. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
As early as 2 a.m. on Friday, October 25 protesters gathered outside Toronto Transit Commission yards and stations to defy a court injunction against picketing and to shut down the transit system. By 7 a.m. it was clear that the show of force was enough to turn employees away, and management was forced to close the system. By this time, approximately 300 picket lines were up around Metro Toronto ﻿&shyp;﻿ at government offices, postal stations, universities and colleges, and other unionized workplaces. The streets of Toronto were noticeably empty as hundreds of thousands stayed away from work and school. 


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By noon thousands of people gathered outside the Toronto Stock Exchange to voice their anger at the constituency clearly at the heart of the Conservative government's ideological agenda -- big business. Hundreds of protesters stormed into the Stock Exchange building, only to be confronted by scores of riot police and marshals organized by labour groups. After many speeches and chants attacking a system that puts profits before people, the crowd marched peacefully through the financial district in a spontaneous display of self-organization. This march - largely without the direction of marshals or central organizers ﻿&shyp;﻿ culminated in a major rally against cuts to education. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Saturday morning saw tens of thousands gather in what was Canada's largest demonstration ever. Protesters from hundreds of community organizations and labour unions were there for a long and vibrant march. As the march went by the Convention Centre where the Tories were meeting, protesters stopped and militantly chanted "Tory, Tory, Tory, Out, Out, Out". As much as some people wanted to further disrupt the Tory convention the marshals and cops moved everyone along. At least 15 minutes after the front of the march arrived in an already filled Queen's Park the tail end of the demonstration was just leaving the starting point four kilometres away. 

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The march culminated in a rally at the legislature where crowds were presented with speeches and entertained by the likes of Bruce Cockburn and Billy Bragg. While patting themselves on the back for a successful day, noticeably absent from the speeches at the front were any plans for what is to happen next in the fight against Harris, despite the chants of "general strike" from the crowd 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Most exciting about the Days of Action was the growth of a fledgling grass roots social movement. The MDA may have been plugged by the mainstream press as "organized by labour", but it was very clear leading up to and during the two day protest that communities and individuals - including people in unions - were self-organizing in unpredicted ways. Posters from newly formed anti-Harris groups went up all over the city; single-moms met in Parkdale to arrange transportation to the rally; parents formed grass roots committees in the east end; senior citizens organized themselves for participation in the activities; and, cities such as North York and York Region saw the formation of unprecedented "fight back coalitions". None of these were initiated by the "official" central organizers. 

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In the months to come, the real task for activists will be to build upon and expand the bonds of solidarity that were created in organizing for and participating in the Metro Days of Action. 

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Committee for a General Strike 
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(no author listed)﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November - December 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿


In early October, union and movement activists received this message advertising an upcoming meeting: "Please answer the following question: Is the fight against the Harris Government being waged in order to: A. Get the Tories to understand the error of their ways and soften their agenda somewhat; or B. Create a vast social mobilization that renders Ontario ungovernable and forces them from office well before their term expires. If you answered "A" then this meeting is not for you. You just wouldn't enjoy it. If you answered 'B', however, it's right up your street and you should make every effort to be there." 
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Convinced that this was the right meeting for them, 35 activists gathered on October 5 to discuss ways of pushing forward the anti-Harris struggle. They decided to form the Committee for a General Strike, and to use the Metro Days of Action to publicize a founding meeting. Then, on Saturday, November 2, roughly 60 people met in the Canadian Auto Workers Local 40 hall to launch the committee on a solid foundation. The 60 participants represented about 30 local unions and community organizations, and they plan to broaden it out to include many more. 

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The committee is organizing around three main demands: 1. That unions and social movements should commit themselves to trying to defeat the Harris government before its mandate ends; 2. That the labour movement should set a date for a province-wide general strike and a timetable of actions to build towards such a strike; 3. That a broad-based Solidarity Congress of union and social movement activists should be convened to build the grassroots leadership network that will be necessary for a successful general strike. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
These are excellent and timely demands. The Committee for a General Strike represents a promising attempt to pull together the militant wing of the anti-Harris movement. For more information or to endorse the committee call (416) 925-6939, or by fax to (416) 966-8758. 

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Students and the MDA 
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by Tamara Eberle and Mitchell Shore﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November - December 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿

Busses from high schools, universities and colleges from all over Ontario and some as far as Quebec and Manitoba rolled into Toronto early Friday morning, October 25 to join the city's two days of protest against the Harris government and it's corporate buddies. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
As early as 6 a.m. that morning, students, teachers, staff, and labour unionists joined with other anti-Harris activists to hit the picket lines at York University, University of Toronto, and Ryerson Polytechnic University. Centennial College, George Brown and Humber Colleges were all notably empty. Thousands walked out for the day from public elementary and high schools, as well as private schools, leaving classrooms quiet. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
York Un﻿iversity saw all campus entrances blocked by picketers and the university itself effectively shut down. Ryerson also shut down and rumour has it the president of the institution fell in the mud while forcing his way past the lines. The University of Toronto, being more spread out, faced picket lines at many key entrances and buildings. The slogan for the day was "U of T shut down due to cuts" although there was some dissension on the lines about the effectiveness of only holding information pickets and letting people and cars through after two minutes of picketing. Despite chants of "No one in, no one out, that's what picket lines are all about" and signs saying "U of T shut down" disgruntled faulty and students were let through the lines. The potential effectiveness of the picket lines was weakened by this strategic disagreement but in the end business was clearly not "as usual" at Canada's largest university. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
After an early start on the picket lines thousands of anti-Harris demonstrators gathered at the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training to join a rally initiated by the Canadian Federation of Students, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, teachers unions and a host of parent groups. The demonstrators heard several speakers, including elementary students, denouncing the dismantling of the education system by the province's Conservative Government. 

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Ottawa at the MDA 
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by Paul Lykotrafitis ﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November - December 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿

On the weekend of October 25-26, people from all over Ontario came to Toronto to voice their anger against the Harris Government. Though Ottawa is 400 kilometres away and previous Days Of Action have never ventured closer than Peterborough, local activists quickly seized the initiative to organize. All in all, more than 30 buses from Ottawa made the trip to Toronto. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
By the beginning of October, there were organizing meetings in the two universities, as well as one in the community. The community group, which only met twice, had a large organized labour component. Exclusive emphasis was put on booking the buses and filling them with people, with no support actions or meetings organized. The centre of most of the planning for the labour contingent was the Ottawa and District Labour Council, where it took a spirited argument by activists to gain financial support for buses. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
The two campus groups were also active in sending people to Toronto. Thanks to the financial support of some of the campus unions, most noticeably the teaching assistants' union (CUPE 2323), Carleton University was able to send it's own contingent of two buses. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Because of the astounding defeats that public service workers in Ottawa have faced over the last five years, Ottawa has not been a place for grass roots activism. One hopes the experience of participating in the largest demonstration in Canadian history will revitalize and excite many who thought that resisting Harris is futile. One enduring legacy of these defeats is that there exists no political discussion around broader anti-Harris actions. For the anti-Harris movement in Ottawa to grow, it would be helpful if questions about the next step in the struggle are brought forward in the activist community. 

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Guelph at the MDA 
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by Brian Munn ﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November - December 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿

GuelphWorking mostly on the University of Guelph campus, the Campus Action Committee, student government (CFS), the Guelph Socialists, and other activists spent the week preceding the MDA publicizing the actions. The importance of shutting Toronto down was made clear through posters, campus radio (which dedicated an evening to anti-cuts discussions and revolutionary music), public meetings, and campus print media. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
On Friday, Oct. 25, two buses full of Guelph students (including many first-time protesters fed up with the Ontario government) and one bus of labour and community activists (provided by the local labour council) made the trip down to Toronto where Guelph activists bolstered picket lines at the University of Toronto and the TTC. CUPE-organized pickets at U of T in particular benefited from the enthusiasm and experience of Guelph people. Large groups of Guelphites were also present at protests at the Toronto Stock Exchange and Queen's Park as well as in the march on Saturday, which included an additional 12 buses full of angry students, teachers, and other activists from Guelph who couldn't make it out on Friday. 

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All in all, these were two very successful days for Guelph's activist community and the community at large who demonstrated their ability to coordinate a fairly large-scale mobilization of protesters and cross-picketers. 

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