What to make of Occupy Wall Street, the international anti-corporate protest that spread into Canadian cities over the weekend? What to make of a movement that simultaneously insists debt is slavery and government austerity is bad policy? What to make of young adults carrying signs that read “End the Fed,” who offer no alternative vision of governance?

I want to see coherence in all of this. I want to see a strong progressive voice in global politics, not because I agree with that perspective wholeheartedly but because I think that voice has grown weak and mostly reactionary in recent years. I think these protesters have the potential to rebalance political debate, and in that sense I want to pull for them.

But I can’t. Not until they get a good deal more specific, and constructive.

In the lead-up to Saturday’s launch of the Canadian protests, I spoke with Doug (a.k.a. Twitter’s OccupyBayStreet) to learn more about this movement. I asked him to tell me a bit about himself to start. He’s a U.S. citizen who has lived and worked in Toronto for six years. Inspired by Barack Obama’s presidential run four years ago, he now sees President Obama as just another establishment figure. “One of the reasons I’m inspired by this movement is that many of us around the world were taken by Obama’s campaign of hope and so forth,” Doug told me. “But he failed to cash in on that. So in a sense, I see this movement as this generation taking things into their own hands.”

Have you protested before?

Yes, I was involved somewhat with the G20 protests. I have, in smaller ways, marched against the Iraq War and things like that. I’m a Mennonite street pastor who works with homeless and poor folks in downtown Toronto. I think our generation has looked for, and been willing to try and use normal means as it were for making sure our voices are heard. But somehow [the establishment has] maintained control through all this. And that’s ultimately what the big message is: We are the 99% and we don’t want to be dominated by the 1% anymore. We’re working out ways to prevent the 1% from dictating everything that happens.

Who makes up the 1%?

The 1% most wealthy. They should have a voice in the process, everybody should. But it shouldn’t be as outsized as it is. Their control of resources shouldn’t be as outsized as it is. Their ability to control political parties, police forces, military policy and all the things that they have seized control of. They’re represented in a far outsized way than would be indicated by their actual numbers.

What’s your call to action for Canadians?

The medium is the message. The specific call is for people to come together and form these general assemblies. Any specific calls or demands will come out of those. I think the unique call is for people to come together and decide on a consensus model what the demands will be, what needs to change, what needs to be done differently.

That’s what I’m struggling with though. I don’t hear any clear message.

I think certain people are able to hear that clarity already. People like Alan Grayson. Some people can hear the message, in spite of the chaos, because they’re attuned to the issues already. The other thing I’d say is that this is how creativity works. A certain level of chaos during a founding moment is appropriate.

I don’t disagree with that. But the end goal can’t simply be expressing frustration. Right?

No. There is a danger of that. There’s always the danger that you’ll fail. Or alternatively, that you’ll succeed in a massive way like we did with Obama and that it will be co-opted by the old guard. I think there’s danger on both ends.

I submitted two interview requests to the group managing media relations for the Toronto protesters. No response, unfortunately.