Occupy Winnipeg protestors brave the chill
It's a much smaller protest than it was on Saturday, but the Occupy Winnipeg demonstration to end social injustice continues in a downtown park.
About 20 people and a dozen colourful tents dotted Memorial Park on Monday, under a clear and cold sky and in the sightline of the M anitoba legislature.
About 400 people marched through downtown on Saturday to protest corporate greed and financial inequality. The protest is being held in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread from the United States to dozens of countries around the world, including Canada.
Temperatures have been dipping to near freezing overnight but the die-hard core of protestors have fended off the chill with parkas and generators.
Protestor Kristi Loeb, who just graduated from high school, said the cause is worth it to bring about change.
"Change. In anyway that it takes form. From the general public changing the way they think about things or just taking the time to learn what the issues are," she said.
It's time to band together and speak out about corruption and greed, she said, adding she hopes the movement gets the attention of those who refuse to share their wealth.
The Canadian Occupy groups take inspiration from the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has been staging protests in New York for more than a month.
The protests, which generally claim to be leaderless, are inspired by a grassroots movement that has spread around the world and features demonstrations against global financial inequality and corporate greed.
Occupy Wall Street protesters argue government bailouts in 2008 left banks enjoying huge profits, amid high unemployment and job insecurity, and that the richest one per cent of Americans have huge fortunes and are taxed at a lower rate than the average person.
Protestors in Canada say the message is just as relevant north of the border, noting that the richest one per cent in Canada took one-third of all income gains in the decade preceding the recession.
