Common Front demo shakes up Bay St.(demonstration against poverty in Toronto, Ontario)(Statistical Data Included)

Offering dramatic proof that militant resistance is possible in the post-September 11 climate of warmongering, 2,500 activists descended on Toronto's financial district on October 16 (016). Taking to the streets with drums, banners and placards, the demonstrators defied and frustrated police, blocking streets and snarling traffic for nearly three hours. Organized by the Ontario Common Front, a network of 70 groups initiated by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), the demo did exactly what police had vowed it would not: enter the financial district and disrupt business as usual. The idea of economic disruption in and around Toronto's Bay Street was first proposed by OCAP last spring as a way to target banks and corporations that support and directly benefit from the Harris government. But in the aftermath of the attacks on New York's World Trade Center, many argued that such protests were no longer an option. After much discussion and debate, Common Front members came to the opposite conclusion: that after September 11 it was vital to reclaim the streets for militant movements for social justice.

Still, the situation looked daunting. Weeks before …