Seeing red over 'injustice' |
Sitting down for a chat with anti-poverty activist John Clarke, it's hard to reconcile the guy with all the names he's been called over the years.
Rabble-rouser. Riot starter. Trouble-making radical. Anarchist. Goon. Thug. One-trick poverty pony. And that's just from this newspaper.
"I suppose our organization charts a radical direction and from the standpoint of the editorial board of the Toronto Sun, I would imagine I'd be considered a troublemaker," he says with a smile.
As an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Clarke has often been at the forefront of some wildly raucous and even violent protests over the years.
Most memorable is the infamous Queen's Park riot in 2000, in which anti-Mike Harris demonstrators clashed with police on the lawn of the legislature. More than 30 protesters, including Clarke, were arrested, while 42 cops, nine horses and two dozen demonstrators suffered injuries.
"I would say we have a fairly adversarial relationship with the Toronto Police," Clarke says. "They don't like us, and the feeling's mutual."
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