On Saturday, March 31st, the Telegram received a letter from J.F. Martin, accusing the city of having "shirked responsibility" by not evicting the Harbourside Park camp sooner. The letter was read verbatim on the St. John's Morning Show today, followed by an interview with Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff, where she suggested that the movement was nothing more than an “informal camp,” rather than a part of a global movement.
We would like to address some of the confusion surrounding our organization. First of all, OccupyNL is not a camping expedition. OccupyNL is a local manifestation of the global Occupy movement. The encampment at Harbourside park is an important meeting place and symbol for our movement, but it is but a small part of the whole. We are a community of concerned Canadian citizens who are determined to change our society for the better. Our organization seeks to achieve this goal by way of its unique structure: completely horizontal consensus-based decision-making, where everyone has an equal say. Our specific goals are decided upon at our weekly General Assemblies, which are open to the public.
