Occupy Edmonton joins the call for Robin Hood tax
Protesters want G20 finance ministers to help alleviate poverty with a new tax
A crowd of protesters from Occupy Edmonton took over a section of a downtown street on the weekend.
The rally on Jasper Avenue Saturday called on the G20 finance ministers that are meeting in France this week to agree on a so-called Robin Hood tax.
The protesters were calling for the tax on banks to be used to alleviate poverty and fight climate change.
Other rallies held around the world were also calling for the tax.
Chelsea Taylor, a spokesperson for the group, says a tax of just 0.05 per cent on financial transactions could raise billions of dollars.
"If they don't hear our calls for this tax, it really signals where the government's priorities are at," she said. "If they can't pass a tiny fractional tax on the banks, it really shows you whose side they're on. They're not looking out for you and me, they're looking out for their own interests."
She says Canada was one of the first countries in the world to suggest a similar idea in the past.
"It was passed as a resolution to explore this kind of tax under the previous government," said Taylor. "The Stephen Harper government has reversed that and has said they will not be supporting this. They are blocking it on an international level. So we used to be leaders on this kind of thing."