TORONTO - Several anti-poverty activists have been rounded up by police after briefly occupying offices of Ontario's Liberal party in downtown Toronto.
An organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty says about 10 people were detained by police.
A.J. Withers says she was told the 10 were being charged with trespassing after they were removed from the second-floor offices at Yonge and Bloor.
There was no immediate word from police about the charges.
The action came during a rally against the elimination of a special diet allowance for welfare recipients, which drew about 200 to 300 people to the area.
A few of the activists went into the office building and appeared at the window with a megaphone but then disappeared from view. Several people were led from the building shortly afterwards, loaded into a police van and driven away.
As the scene unfolded, many protesters chanted nearby. A small group of them said they would march to the downtown police station where they believed the others were taken.
The activists say the Liberal government's decision to scrap the allowance and replace it with a new program will lead to more hunger, poor health and homelessness in the province.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has said the cost of the program jumped from $6 million to $250 million a year and must be reined in.
