Should they stay or should they go?

You know who: The Occupy Vancouver protesters who have taken up what appears to be permanent residence at the Vancouver Art Gallery, right smack in the middle of the city.

It certainly sounds permanent. One guy says he’s planning to stay there “until I die,” which is about as permanent as it gets on this earth.

The tent city has grown to 100 tents, and once in a while sticks out a protest paw or two, such as the other day when campers hiked to Surrey to annoy George Bush, and on Saturday occupied a handy nearby TD Bank.

City hall and police have shown restraint, as a so-far peaceful Occupy Vancouver has put most of its energy into manufacturing creative protest signs, but you have to wonder how long the uneasy equilibrium can last.

Christmas and Hanukah are coming and pretty soon it will be time to put up the tree and light the giant menorah on the same spot, so unless a bunch of tents are prepared to make way for the festive season, we’re about to have a Yule duel.

Earlier this week, NPA mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton jacked up the rhetoric and said if she were mayor, Vancouver would no longer be Occupied.

Her opponent on council, Geoff Meggs, wants to see her plan for removing hundreds of protesters without incident. He has a point, but he doesn’t have a plan either, at least not one he is sharing with the rest of us. He makes comparisons to the Falun Gong protest on Granville in front of the Chinese consulate, so maybe he’s prepared to let them stay there for six years, festive season be damned.

All this political chest thumping makes for great news fodder, but it’s phony. Our fearless leaders would rather talk smack than make sense.

How refreshing would it be to see the premier or the mayor turn up at the tent city, walk through the muddy pathways, and meet actual people? Talk to them, find out what they want, or if there’s anything they can do. Engage in “dialogue,” which is not an alternative spelling of “photo op” or “sound bite.”

If Premier Clark and Mayor Robertson really mean it when they say they’re “different,” isn’t this a great opportunity to show what different looks like?

For better or worse, the Occupy movement is becoming be a key moment in the evolution of democracy.

So far, though, our leaders seem happy to give the whole mess a miss, at least until after the civic election, Nov. 19.

Talk about shortsighted.