Climate Justice London

London, Ontario celebrated Fossil Fools Day by organizing blitz actions against 3 branches of RBC (the Royal Bank of Canada), as well as a Critical Mass bike rally in which a breakaway group took over a highway.  We then converged at protected woods which Wal-Mart hopes to pave over for a ‘Smart’Centre complex.  Climate Justice London activists were involved in organizing those actions, and a couple of us then helped co-write this report.

[Clicking any of the photo thumbnails will take you to more photos from our actions. And here are some more photos from our bike rally.]

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RBC Actions:

Instead of just protesting outside, a group of activists brought their message inside RBC during their peak hours, to temporarily disrupt the bank’s dirty business.  The plan was simple and easy to replicate.  We marched into the branch, chanting with a megaphone to get the attention of bank managers, tellers and customers with our boisterous entry.  We handed out and threw around flyers to explain what we were up to, and more importantly, why we were there.  One of the flyers was about Fossil Fools Day, and the other one was about campaigning against the tar sands.  A large “Climate Justice” banner was also displayed, inside the RBC building.

One activist read a speech over the megaphone; this speech was written collectively by the participants minutes before the first disruption:
“RBC is Killing the Planet.  They are the leading financiers of the world’s most environmentally destructive project: The Albertan Tar Sands.  The bank you do business with and work for is literally killing First Nations people by poisoning the Athabasca River.  RBC is profiting off the destruction of native communities and turning forests, wetlands, and lakes into open pit mines, poisonous tailing ponds, and toxic wastelands.  By investing your money into this bank and its projects you are selling out the future of life on earth by accelerating climate change.  RBC and other corporations who put profit above all other considerations are unsustainable and incompatible with life on this planet.  Close your accounts and invest yourself in the future.”

On our way out, we repeated this chant:
“Climate chaos, who do we thank? Dirty investments from Royal Bank!
Cancer and asthma, who do we thank?  Dirty investments from Royal Bank!”

During that first disruption, at the main RBC building downtown,  an aggressive security guard (or maintenance worker?) pushed activists around during the speech, and threatened to punch one of us in the face as we were exiting. The staff also called the police, but by the time they arrived but we were already on our way to the next branch.

The second branch in northeast London was stormed in a similar manner and caught totally off-guard.  Without a security guard on staff, we were able to disrupt the branch for a longer period of time before they called the police.  While we were in there, we chanted, we distributed flyers, and we delivered the same speech. As we left, a bank staffer said, “I don’t care about destruction.” We let the bank know that we’d be back.  Once again, we were already on our way to the next branch by the time the police showed up.

The third branch we stormed into was in east London, where once again we threw flyers around the branch, while 15 people were lined up to see a teller. We spread around our flyers — behind the teller’s desks, and elsewhere in the branch.  We also chanted with the megaphone, and delivered the speech before exiting. The managers followed us out the door hoping to be able to ID a vehicle, or let police know which way we went.  But once again by the time police got there we had vanished.

We are planning more disruptions of RBC in London, we will play pranks on them all year — not just on fossil fools day!

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The Critical Mass Rally:

More than 40 of us gathered for a special Fossil Fools edition of Critical Mass in the main downtown park.

The call-out said this –
“Join us with your lovely bicycles and other non-fueled wheels to challenge fossil foolery; the unsustainable car-centric urban infrastructure, carbon market shenanigans and continued assaults on our communities and ecosystem!”

From downtown, we headed out towards Meadowlilly Woods, an environmentally significant area that is threatened by a proposed Wal-Mart ‘Smart’Centre retail complex.

During the ride, some of us chanted -
“Hey, ho! Hey, ho! The fossil fools have got to go! Hey, ho! Hey, ho! Pedal power’s the way go go!”

Along the way to the Meadowlilly Woods, the Critical Mass split in two at an intersection, where a group of almost 20 people took over a highway.  We think that stretch of road is prohibited to bicycle traffic. The road has a speed limit of 100km/h (65 m/h), and it is a highway that leads to the inter-city 401 highway. We occupied both lanes, until we had to let fire trucks with their sirens on past us.  From there on we only occupied one lane on the highway and exited the highway at Commissioners to regroup with the rest of the Critical Mass riders in the Meadowlilly Woods.

We were welcomed by nearby residents who are organizing against the Wal-Mart ‘Smart’Centre, with the Friends of Meadowlily Woods.  We had a large discussion on ways we could protect and appreciate those beautiful forest lands.  The area is home to many species that are threatened by urban sprawl that campaigners have been fighting for years now.