Raise Your Voice & Join the Fight

Imagine, if you will, that you're alone in a large, open room with plenty of space to do whatever you want, say whatever you please, and express yourself in whatever way preferable to you. Now imagine that slowly that space begins to fill with other people, until eventually all you have left of your large, open room is the space above your head and you're now surrounded by people telling you that your opinions, speech and expression don't matter and no one wants to hear any of it.

Sound Appealing?

Space is an essential aspect in any functional democratic society, a concept which raises a great amount of controversy as our space gradually becomes bombarded with advertising and other expressions of commercial interest.

It is many people’s belief that public space belongs to us- the consumers, and for that very reason should not be managed in support of private or commercial interests. We visit public spaces for our own purposes, whether it be to travel (i.e. bus), to learn something (i.e. library) or to engage with one another (i.e. café’s or parks). When we lose these common areas, the very idea of the public, to advertising and billboards we lose the notion of there being any space outside of the consumer’s market. We are being sent the message that whatever we may be doing, saying or engaging in is less important than our role as consumers and as a result have fewer places where we can relate to each other as citizens instead of fellow consumers, weakening our democracy.

From this fight for public space, numerous organizations have arisen:

The Beautiful City Campaign: An initiative aimed at beautifying, democratizing, and diversifying access to public space and putting an annual licensing fee on billboard advertising as a means of holding corporations accountable for their impact on shared space.

The Toronto Public Space Committee: Viewing the public as citizens first and consumers second, this committee is dedicated to protecting shared and common spaces from commercial influence and privatization.

Newmindspace: An organization which hosts free, all-ages events, ranging from pillow fights at Dundas square to streetcar parties and giant games of capture the flag, in an attempt to reclaim public space and create community.

It is organizations such as these that work towards reclaiming public space from advertising and providing alternative uses for the space. These alternatives, mainly revolve around various art forms meant to create community and celebrate creative expression and it is for this reason that it is imperative for us to team up with these organizations, either by joining them or by individually setting out for the same cause.

It is through the work of these organizations and the potential impact that each of us can have as opinionated citizens that a difference can be made on our streets.

Its time that we stand up, raise our voice and fight for our city and what’s rightfully ours!