State Department Monitored Occupy Toronto, Expected That it Would Have “Little Resonance With Canadians.”

Newly released and declassified records show that the United States State Department was monitoring media reactions to the Occupy Wall Street protests as well as the protests themselves. 

An October 14, 2011 cable from to American Consulate to the SecState WASHDC as well as to the National Security Council and the Department of Treasury reveals that the consulate was monitoring Occupy Toronto which the consulate called “a spin-off of the anti-corporate protests happening on New York’s Wall Street.”

In the cable, the Consulate provides background on the broader Occupy Wall Street movement and the nascent Occupy Toronto effort.  While praising Occupy Toronto for “coordinating itself well through the use of social media,” the consulate ultimately believed it “doubtful that Occupy Toronto can maintain the same momentum that Occupy Wall Street has shown so far” because of  the “significant differences in the economic situations between the U.S. and Canada.” 

    State Department Monitoring Occupy Toronto