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Canadian Climate Protesters Disrupt House of Commons Question Period
A loud protest in the visitors gallery of the House of Commons resulted in several arrests and the brief shutdown of question period on Monday.
Activist Jeh Custer, who was part of a group protesting the delay of a review of a climate change bill, says he was roughed up by security guards. Around 200 young protesters chanted slogans to support Bill C-311, an NDP private member's bill on climate change. Six people were reported to have been detained.
The protesters yelled, "I say 311; you say 'Sign it'."
Parliamentary security guards eventually cleared the public gallery by removing the demonstrators in small groups.
Activist Jeh Custer, who was part of a group protesting the delay of a review of a climate change bill, says he was roughed up by security guards.Activist Jeh Custer, who was part of a group protesting the delay of a review of a climate change bill, says he was roughed up by security guards. With his face still covered in blood, environmental activist Jeh Custer told CBC's Power & Politics that once he was removed from the gallery he was taken to a stairwell by bodyguards and roughed up.
"Once I was taken to a stairwell, my face was smashed on the floor," he said, adding that the incident was filmed by an unnamed person.
Fellow environmental activist Eriel Deranger said she witnessed the incident and that she "watched four security guards jump on him" and "started to smash him into the floor."
"There was blood all over the floor," she said. "And as they continued to drag him through the hallway, there was blood on the walls as they smeared his face on the walls."
Last week, the House voted to extend the deadline for the environment committee's review of the bill.
C-311 would set strict targets for greenhouse gas emissions. The bill calls for Canada to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. It also gives the government the authority to make regulations to meet the targets, including penalties for contravention.
The NDP had wanted the bill to move to the next stage of the approval process in the hopes that it might become law and compel the government to act to address global warming before the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, which begins Dec. 7.
The Bloc Québécois agreed with the NDP, but the Conservatives did not. The Liberal caucus was split, with 42 Liberals voting to extend the review and 14 supporting the NDP and Bloc.
"The youth in the gallery showed more leadership than the MPs on the floor," Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said at a news conference on Parliament Hill on Monday afternoon following the demonstration.
4 Comments so far
Show AllHey Jeh, thanks for taking the hit for the rest of us. I'm another completely dismayed Canadian. How did we get to be the bad guys? Canada! land of beautiful girls and foot-dragging, lying, paid-off conservative politicians. Elizabeth May is worth more than the whole lot of them and a bucket of gold.
We live in a word that conservative estimates now say must have a 97% reduction in C02 emissions to 1990 levels by 2050 to avert global disaster. Where action must take place today-not a decade from today.
Yet- the global disaster is taking place NOW! Australia and parts of Africa are in drought. Large parts of Bangladesh and the South Pacific islands will soon be under water. Hurricanes and tropical storms are growing in severity. A distinct species of animal or plant becomes extinct every 20 minutes- resulting in this being one of the six great periods of mass extinction. The ice caps are melting, sea levels are on the rise, the oceans are growing in acidity, coral reefs will soon be completely dead and the permafrost is melting- releasing methane- a global warming gas 21X more powerful than C02. The rainforests- whether in Indonesia, the Amazon or Papua New Guinea- may become deserts- all for a few days of oil, a few acres of soy or palm oil production or a few ounces of red meat.
No sane individual, with a grasp of reality, disputes that these changes are man-made. The developed nations contribute to over 70% of CO2 emissions. Industrial agriculture contributes more to global warming than cars. Global water supplies are under severe threat- in part due to climate change. Even after decades of warning, treaties like Kyoto, with carbon trading- have had little impact on solving the problem. European nations have not met their carbon reduction goals, and the United States has increased its per capita carbon emissions. China and India refuse to set emissions caps and intend to exploit their vast coal reserves- burning the planet along with themselves.
Finally, there is no optimistic scenario- no leapfrog-no technology that can quickly reverse global warming and its consequences. Yet our leaders sit almost idly by as these changes take place. Individual nations are left to pursue their own policies. Legislators water down proposed legislation, even going so far as to create a new class of climate change/third world debt derivatives.
Well, do not think young people or elders will sit idly buy. Do not think the protests will not grow. Never has there been a time that does not cry out more for civil resistance, civil disobedience, more protests, more disruptions. If the citizens of the planet do not take a stand, then there may be nothing left to stand on except a planet machine that is lifeless and that has consumed everything in it path- including us.
One last thing. There are solutions. Some like to go into their shells and speak of hopelessness. Some on the Christian side speak of the Apocalypse. Some visionless leaders speak of political reality- not being able to see beyond their campaign coffers or army of sycophants. This is all dross. It is nothing more than an evasion of responsibility and a denial of reality. The words of an addict that would rather die and doom others than give up his addiction. What right do we have to shirk our responsibilities- locking future generations in a dismal future that was not of their own choosing.
Is our Canadian leadership so contemptible that civil disobedience is one of the few courses of action left to hold them to account? Absolutely. Does a legitimate voice of protest, such as Jeh's and the other citizens that were there to have their voices heard, deserve such disrespect and brutal treatment? Absolutely not.
Such an appalling response to citizen's voices serves to highlight Canada's dubious distinction as environmental pariah and World front-runner in derailing meaningful climate change action. Indeed, the Canadian government's disdain for leadership, and accountability to the World and it's people, compels Canada's citizens to act in a far more vocal fashion. The increased need for non-violent direct action, accompanied, as always, by progressive political movement, and advocacy and outreach has never been more pressing.
Well the HoC has no problem passing Bill C-6 a bill that violates our personal sovereignty and has been described in the senate as totalitarian. But when it come to a bill that may arm there Tar sand profits they sure know how to put on the brakes. All 3 of those parties get my vote for non confidence we need some fresh blood in there someone with no ties that can push for the type of change we need to see. My parents and there parents before them did little to prevent impact on climate change. It is nice to see our generation has not given up yet. As far as I am concerned all of the parties in the HoC have had a go at leadership and in the end all have failed. We need a new Party!