Occupy protesters in Vancouver have been given a 5 p.m. PT deadline to pack up their camp at the courthouse, a day after being ousted from their original tent city outside the art gallery.
B.C. Supreme Court Judge Anne MacKenzie ruled Tuesday that the protesters are a public nuisance and found them to be in contempt of court after she ordered them to vacate the property outside the gallery on Monday.
The province had been seeking a broad injunction, which would have prevented protesters from setting up camp on any public land.
However, MacKenzie said such a move would be an inappropriate use of the law.
Earlier Tuesday, tents were taken down and demonstrators were forcibly removed from their encampments in Quebec City and Victoria, as local authorities lost patience with the movement that first began on Wall Street as a protest against economic inequality.
In Victoria, large numbers of police arrived at the camp in Centennial Square just before 5 a.m. local time, blocking off an area the size of a city block and closing off streets to traffic.
"Approximately a dozen protesters and tents remained at the encampment. The majority left on their own accord, but one woman was arrested for assault by trespass," stated a news release from Victoria Police.
The statement said police were acting on an enforcement order issued Monday by the B.C. Supreme Court.
After the raid, city clean-up crews moved in with trucks and front-end loaders to collect the heaps of garbage left behind, CTV Vancouver Island reports.
In Quebec City, meanwhile, police and firefighters staged an early morning raid Tuesday before dawn, swiftly moving occupiers from their makeshift encampment.
One day earlier a similar scene played out in Calgary with bylaw officers, accompanied by police officers, taking down unoccupied tents and issuing tickets to those still holed up in Olympic Plaza.
In Montreal, protesters rejected a request from Mayor Gerald Tremblay to leave, and vowed they would remain in their Victoria Square location.
Toronto protest continues
Occupy Toronto protesters woke up on a frosty Tuesday morning wondering whether they would be permitted to sleep another night in the city park where they were served eviction notices a day earlier.
Mayor Rob Ford on Monday asked demonstrators to leave their location at St. James Park in the city's downtown.
Ford was pressed by reporters on when the city would begin to take action to forcibly remove the protesters. He refused to provide a deadline, however, repeating the mantra that the city was asking occupiers to leave peacefully, as soon as possible.
Rev. Douglas Stoute, the dean and rector at St. James Cathedral, which co-owns the park with the city, asked occupiers to comply with the order. The church has so far supported the protest but Stoute said Monday it is now time for the protesters to go.
Late Monday night members of the downtown Toronto camp celebrated once they realized they would be allowed to remain in the camp for at least another night.
Some took advantage of the reprieve, however, to fortify their encampment with chains and wood structures in hopes of defying authorities.
"We're going to come back and stay here for as long as it takes," Occupy Toronto camp facilitator Nele Micheles told a cheering crowd after a countdown to a deadline.
"This is the beginning of a big movement and we are serious."
Many with the camp have voiced a determination to stay until removed by authorities. Some even role-played confrontations with police in anticipation of a showdown, The Canadian Press reports.
Micheles called on occupiers to hold out, suggesting there was safety in numbers and the more people at the camp, the less likely it would be forcibly dismantled.
On Monday a Toronto judge ordered that the camp be taken down, saying the protesters were trespassing and that allowing them to stay would amount to supporting anarchy.
As is the case with all the Occupy sites across Canada, authorities have said demonstrators are free to remain in the parks, just not between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m., and only without tents or structures.
