The Occupy Wall Street protests started with a call to action on the blog of Vancouver-based advocacy magazine, Adbusters, in July. On September 17, protesters began occupying Zuccotti Park near the New York Stock Exchange.
Initally treated as a joke, the movement is slowly gaining traction. The protesters say they are taking their cue from the pro-democracy movements of the Arab Spring that have sprung up across North Africa and the Middle East.
Related: Wall Street Blocked As Demonstrators #OccupyWallSt
On Sunday, the Canadian press reported that organizers in Toronto and several other Canadian cities plan to follow the lead of anti-Wall Street activists in the United States by taking to the streets later this month to protest the global financial system. About 3,200 people have "liked" the Occupy Toronto Facebook page on Sunday.
Occupy Toronto has yet to identify their exact grievances, but representatives of the protest have said online that "corporate greed is the root cause of every single issue on the table."
According to the website Occupy Together, Canadian protests are also being arranged in Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Montreal, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Protests are also said to be planned for Tokyo, five Australian cities, about ten European countries and most U.S. states.