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The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is a federation of activists in Ontario , Canada , who promote the interests of the poor and Homeless . The group enjoys a particular notoriety, especially in Toronto, due to its effective use of publicity-generating techniques such as Direct Action . COMPOSITION The coalition was founded in 1989 by John Clarke , a British ex-pat and unemployed auto-worker. The coalition was created to promote concern and action about poverty, Homelessness , and Gentrification in downtown Toronto . The group is headquartered in Toronto, and that remains the centre of most of their activities, but they have engaged in actions in most major Ontario centres. The movement is composed primarily of activists, social workers, and the poor. It was particularly prominent during the period of 1995-2002 as one of the voices of opposition to the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris . QUEEN'S PARK RIOT AND AFTERMATH On June 15, 2000, OCAP staged a large demonstration on the lawn at Queen's Park , during which violent altercations took place between the demonstrators and security officials, police officers, and police horses. In the aftermath, three OCAP members - John Clarke, Gaetan Heroux and Stefan Pilipa - were arrested and charged with several offenses ranging from vandalism and assault to inciting a riot. Their eventual trial was declared by the presiding judge to be a mistrial due to a Hung Jury . The Crown dropped the charges against Heroux and Pilipa but elected to procede again against Clarke. All charges against Clarke were eventually dropped when a judge threw them out owing to the Crown's failure to expeditiously disclose evidence. MOCK EVICTION OF THE FINANCE MINISTER A small controversy was created when a group of OCAP activists walked into Ontario Finance Minister Jim Flaherty 's office and staged a mock eviction, moving his furniture out onto the curb. FUNDING OCAP is funded through private donations and support from Labour Union s. At one time up to a third of their operating funds coming the Canadian Auto Workers , but the CAW cut most of its funding after the Flaherty action and OCAP has since had to engage in raising funds from individuals in order to pay its organizers. STRATEGY AND TACTICS The organization has blockaded major streets, broken into abandoned buildings to apply pressure to have them be turned into housing, staged counter-demonstrations at celebrations, conducted confrontational marches through wealthy neighbourhoods, and crashed political events and meetings. The group has battled many organizations, keeping a close eye on the behaviour of the police and making enemies of all major political parties. The group is especially confrontational towards neighbourhood associations that tend to work to close Homeless Shelter s and evict the poor from neighbourhoods. PUBLICITY AND RESULTS OCAP's tactics have been very controversial, and the leading members have been arrested a number of times. Their confrontational tactics have earned OCAP much publicity and notice from the public and from politicians. OCAP argues they have produced measurable results in increasing the supply of affordable housing. NOTORIETY The group is known world wide, and it is frequently held up as a success story by anti-poverty activists, anarchists, and many others involved in other or similar Resistance movements. BACKLASH More recently, OCAP and its tactics have frequently alienated themselves from trade unions and other progressive organizations. The Canadian Union Of Public Employees cut its funding and recent actions by OCAP attacking the major hotel employees union in Toronto ( UNITE HERE ) has caused other traditional supporters to denounce OCAP and disassociate themselves from the group's activities. EXTERNAL LINKS
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