By: Ann Beatty

Introduction

On September 15, hundreds of women, trans people, kids and men supporters gathered in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto for the 30th annual Take Back the Night (TBTN) community fair, rally and march. The march was loud and spirited, marching on both major streets and quieter residential ones. The chants and music brought some residents out on to the sidewalks and waves from balconies of the many apartment buildings in the neighbourhood.

I
We are writing this as residents of George Street, in Toronto’s Downtown East End, specifically the houses located at 311 and 303 George. 311 is next door to O'Neill House, which is itself next to Seaton House. 311 George is also located at the beginning of a stretch of abandoned buildings, which run down the east side of the street leading up to an alleyway adjacent to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) apartment building at 291 George; 303 George is more-or-less in the middle of this span of unused buildings. 311 George has been a collective house for three years and several of its current tenants have lived there for over 18 months, whereas 303 has been a collective for 14 months. We consider George Street our home, and our neighbours, whether housed or homeless, our fellow community members.

Here is the group statement from the 17 so called "G20 Main Conspiracy Group" as their plea deal was announced today in court.

Solidarity with all those facing charges or sentences for standing up to injustice!

UPDATE: There has since been a video uploaded to youtube, please go to link to watch.

Please visit:

SOURCE: http://conspiretoresist.wordpress.com/

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Group Statement Regarding Our Plea Deal (from Conspire to Resist):

November 22, 2011 — As people across Turtle Island look towards the global wave of protests against the austerity agenda, the memory of the 2010 G20 protests in Toronto looms large as both inspiration and caution. We are seventeen people accused by the state of planning to disrupt the leaders summit – the prosecutors call us the G20 Main Conspiracy Group.

By Brandon Gray

The notoriously xenophobic Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right 'Party for Freedom' - which holds 24 seats in the Dutch parliament - descended on the Canadian Christian College in northern Toronto on May 9 to spew his racist filth to a receptive audience of Christian chauvinists, as their far-right allies, the Jewish Defense League (JDL), managed parking. The event was given extensive coverage in the National Post and Sun Media, thereby advancing the idea of a 'culture war' between good white Judeo-Christians and the wretched 'others'.

By Claire Voltarin

On April 1, members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), people on social assistance and their allies took to the streets of downtown Toronto to protest the slashing of the Special Diet Allowance supplement to Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

Demonstrators converged on Nathan Phillip’s Square to mingle and enjoy a free meal before crossing the street to rally outside the Sheraton Hotel, where Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan was speaking at a $90-a-seat luncheon. The inherent hypocrisy between cutting vital financial support required for poor people to eat, while on the same day hosting an expensive fundraising lunch, was pointed out by OCAP organizer John Clarke as he addressed the crowd under a large banner emblazoned with the 1930’s-era workers’ slogan: United we eat, divided we starve.

Ford’s Budget Committee Shut Down - 2 arrests made, Call for Court Support Friday

**Legal Update: 2 arrests were made today at City Hall. Both are being held over and will be appearing in court on Friday, Feb.11th.

Come out for Court Support!
Friday, February 11th 10AM
College Park (College and Yonge)
Court room #: 507

On February 10, Rob Ford and his friends on the handpicked Budget Committee of City Council got a first taste of community mobilization against the massive social cutbacks they are cooking up. Members of OCAP, No One is Illegal, Disability Action Movement Now, Community Solidarity Network, Common Cause, Rhythms of Resistance, and other
people from communities facing attack were involved in the 'People's Delegation'.

Workers raise the stakes with two-week strike and management quickly capitulates to their demands

By Will Dean (With Peter Marin)

[TORONTO - November 11th]
On the afternoon of November 8th, the workers of the Delta Chelsea hotel on Bay and Gerrard in downtown Toronto were celebrating their victory in a nearby parking lot, after being informed that all their demands would be met. Since the economic crisis of September 2008, western corporations have attempted to force employees to bear the brunt of the crisis through wage freezes, cuts to benefits and the elimination of pensions for new hires. With the consumer price index running at approximately 2% inflation each year, a wage freeze is effectively a wage cut; the workers at Delta Chelsea have made clear that they will not tolerate this treatment and have organized accordingly, with great success.

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Gets Ready to Confront New Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

Eight years of the progressive Mayor David Miller has meant little for the poorest people in Toronto. The former City Council and David Miller are responsible for 312 shelter beds for the homeless being cut with only 60 ever replaced. Promises of new shelters have been empty rhetoric, with people waiting years for any new spaces to open up. Gentrification has continued at high speed, Toronto Community Housing is looking to sell off properties, while the waiting list for housing is almost 10 years long. Transit fares have gone up and accessibility was one of the first things to be cut from the budget. Welfare rates are shamefully inadequate, while city administrators willfully deny people access to vital benefits such as the Special Diet Allowance. Poverty in Toronto has continued to grow under a so-called progressive Mayor. The City of Toronto is increasingly divided between the rich and the poor.

Members of UNITE HERE local 75 picket the Toronto Hilton on Richmond Street W - Friday September 17th.

By Alex Balch

Toronto, Ont - This year’s TIFF festivities may be over, but for the workers of UNITE HERE Local 75, the struggle against multinational hotel conglomerate Westmont Hospitality Group is just heating up.

Many of the over 2,000 members of Local 75 employed by Westmont are currently working without a contract – some of them since February of this year. Workers accuse the company, which owns or operates 13 hotels in the GTA, of trying to lock its employees into a “permanent recession” - despite the fact that the hotel industry has largely bounced back from the economic crisis of 2008.

“The recession is long over for these guys,” says union organizer Amarjeet Chhabra, speaking about the hotel management. “Yet they’re still using the language of the recession while they negotiate a new contract.”

Community Update by the Community Solidarity Network: Post G20 – Arrests, Intimidation and Ongoing Resistance

This report has been a long time coming. Many people that spent the last year as the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, putting together the infrastructure for the Convergence have been arrested, beaten, and intimidated. Many of our most beloved and central organizers are under house arrest conditions while many others in the city have leaped forward to join the resistance.

A new organizing space, the Community Solidarity Network, has just been formed. We see ourselves as the central networking, trust-building and organizing hub for the post-G20 defence happening in different spheres across Toronto. Though our primary mandate is to ensure that all charges against everyone who opposed the G20 be dropped, we will be hosting open meetings shortly for everyone who is organizing various initiatives in the city.