Forum Post: Montreal Gazette: Is OccupyMontreal Collapsing? No leadership means little action. Occupy's lessons; Volunteers burn out as few protesters pitch in.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Occupy+Montreal+leadership+means+little+action/5678614/story.html

MONTREAL - Félix Saint-Laurent is one of the hardest-working participants in Occupy Montreal. Over the last three weeks his eyes have got redder, his cough rougher and his temper shorter.

He would like to be doing more political activism, to spread the message of the occupation beyond the tent city of Victoria Square. Instead, he spends most of his time, as he says it, "preventing a homeless guy from fighting with a schizophrenic who hasn't taken his pill."

On the opposite side of the square, volunteers working the kitchen have their own complaints. Many people who enjoy the free food aren't washing their dishes, despite the cardboard signs reminding them.

Occupiers who manage the security and cleanliness of the camp grumble about doing all the work while others relax in their tents or lounge on the park benches or share a joint.

Like other Occupy movements around the world, the Montreal version is non-hierarchal. Participants are asked to pitch in, however, and as much as they choose. The result is a small fraction of them - about 20 to 30 in a camp of 230 tents - handle most of the daily operations, according to volunteers interviewed.

"Maybe we're on the verge of realizing that we're not ready to have no leadership in a movement. People are waiting to be told what to do," Saint-Laurent said.

"Do I really need to tell you wash your dishes?" he snapped. "Don't be shy to come to us and ask: How can I help?"

Zoe Wolfe, a 19-year-old too broke to attend university, is another hardworking participant - volunteering in the kitchen, the information booth, and the finance committee. When she felt close to burnout and took a day off, "I worked two shifts at my actual paying job."

Although she's disappointed by campers who don't pull their weight, Wolfe reminds herself daily that the Occupy initiative is a longterm ambition that tests the patience and understanding of those involved.

"People have lived in a structure of hierarchy of people telling them what to do," she said. "We are building a micro-society based on new values. We're trying to make them work in this camp so we can make them work in the outside world."

It's a daily process of fine-tuning procedures to encourage more participation. In the camp's kitchen, they tried making schedules for volunteers. That didn't work, so they're experimenting with sign-up sheets where people commit the day before.

Like other Occupy movements, Montreal's is also open to all. This has inevitably attracted the homeless and penniless who enjoy the free food, clothes and occasional tent, but aren't interested in activism. Alcoholism and mental troubles are common.

"At the moment the problem we have to solve is the drug and alcohol use in the camp which are not related to the Occupy movement," Saint-Laurent said. "But they are part of our society and we are in this society. So we have no choice."

Dealing with such problems is not only distracting volunteers from their political goals, it's giving the movement a bad image as TV cameras capture undesirable behaviours.

"I'm tired of people coming here and getting a sensational view of a guy puking on the corner and saying we're a bunch of drunkards," Saint-Laurent said, close to tears. "Why don't you talk to me? Why do you have to focus on the freak? Why? Why?"

If only people with psychiatric credentials would volunteer some of their time, the occupiers would be free to focus on what they came to do, he said.

"What we need are street workers to explain to these people that this is not the right place to be helped, that there are other organizations for them."

Like other Occupy movements, Montreal's is a mix of backgrounds and political histories. Some are seasoned activists, and they have seen this before. A veteran like Rick Zaidi believes overworked volunteers will simply have to deal with it.

"This is a small village and, like any community, there are people who work more, do more, there are homeless people, there are parttime workers," Zaidi said. "For some people it's their first time in a political movement. Others know it takes time."