A group of demonstrators calling on the B.C. government to take urgent action on the climate emergency plan to block one of Vancouver's major bridges over the weekend.
Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) Vancouver group plans to occupy the Burrard Street Bridge on Saturday (July 24). The group will rally at Seaforth Peace Park south of Burrard Bridge where an opening ceremony will be conducted by Musqueam Elder Shane Pointe at 2 p.m.
Musical performances, art, drumming, and speeches are planned on the bridge. XR Vancouver will be collecting donations for the Lytton First Nation Community throughout the day.
As the forest fires continue to burn in B.C. and around the world, XR says the province continues to cut down the remaining old-growth tree and is "destroying entire ecosystems," explains a news release. Additionally, the fuel industry continues to receive subsidies that encourage its behaviour.
"We are Bridging the Gap and connecting the dots between the destruction of our forests and the heat waves destroying wildlife, towns, and human lives," states XR.
Organizers ask that participants wear a face mask and physically distance themselves at all times.
Group member May Morel said: "Our Governments have NEVER treated the Climate and Ecological Emergency like an emergency. We just saw what emergency response looks like with the COVID-19 Pandemic and if we look back at history we see the massive scale of changes made hastily during WW2. Yet, when it comes to climate, the powers-that-be continue to act as if we can somehow negotiate with physics. This is lunacy. The continued clear-cutting of the last 2.7% of high productivity, old-growth forests and the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure, such as the $12B tax-payer funded TransMountain Pipeline, run completely counter-productive to what science is telling us is necessary to prevent further extreme weather events like the heat wave that just cooked our cities and burned Lytton to the ground.
"It has never been more clear that government inaction on climate change will lead to billions of people dying. This is why we must rebel for life."
Four-day protest journey to Victoria
In April, Extinction Rebellion travelled from Vancouver to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria on its “Walk for Mother Earth."
When asked if the group was concerned about the advisory against nonessential travel at the time, Maayan Kreitzman, a volunteer coordinator, said: "This journey does constitute travel for essential purposes.
"What would be more essential than the protection of our life-support systems? Our governments are exacerbating the climate and ecological emergency rather than addressing it as a true emergency, so we have to act now."
