Canadian Occupy camps dwindling

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TORONTO, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Pressure was mounting on two Canadian Occupy protest city encampments to vacate public areas Tuesday after two others were disbanded.

The tent cities were set up across the country Oct. 15 in support of the U.S. Occupy Wall Street movement protesting corporate greed and economic disparity.

Late Monday and early Tuesday, camps in Calgary, Alberta, and Quebec City were dismantled, Postmedia News reported.

Monday afternoon, Occupy Vancouver protesters heeded orders to vacate a camp at the city art gallery, but then re-established their site on court property, the Globe and Mail reported.

However, protesters in the nation's capital, Ottawa, defied orders to clean up and leave their site late Monday, although there was no report of police action Tuesday.

It was a similar case in Toronto, where a number of protesters defied eviction orders at their site in a park co-owned by the city and an Anglican cathedral, the Toronto Sun said. Their numbers have been diminishing in the past few days, with some protesters saying they didn't want a criminal record if it came down to police making arrests.

In various Canadian cities, municipal authorities have also enlisted fire department officials to tour the camps and issue safety citations for unsafe campfires, lanterns and candles.