Protesters hold the Canadian Flag, dripping with tar in reference to northern Alberta's oilsands, Dec. 3, 2011. CITYNEWS/Lakshine Sathiyanathan.
Occupy Toronto demonstrators and local grassroots groups held a protest march under the theme of “climate justice” Saturday that coincided with the annual two-week UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa.
Held in solidarity with demonstrations worldwide as part of a global day of action to put pressure on leaders to develop meaningful measures to address climate change, the demonstrators took up a slew of causes.
“We the 99% know capitalism is broken and can’t fix the earth,” Occupy wrote in a statement on its website. “Their solutions are killing the planet and people on the lands.”
“We will not let the planet be killed in silence.”
Demonstrators carried signs and chanted slogans supporting their climate justice agenda, including the Bhopal disaster on its 27th anniversary, the northern Alberta oilsands and the Keystone XL pipeline project. Protesters held the Canadian flag with a blackened leaf, seemingly dripping with tar.
“We are unstoppable. Another world is possible,” demonstrators chanted at Yonge-Dundas Square where there were a few guest speakers.
“I thank everyone for standing for Mother Earth, for standing for our children’s future and for standing to make things better,” Danny Beaton, a Mohawk environmentalist told the crowd.
“I’m absolutely ashamed of Canada’s action so far in terms of obstructing a workable solution globally to climate change,” Janine MacLeod, who is not involved in the Occupy movement but a supporter of climate justice, said. “And I want whatever climate solution we come up with to address social injustice simultaneously.”
“We have to stop expanding the tar sands operation, we can’t be building pipelines like the Northern Gateway pipeline or the Keystone XL pipeline,” MacLeod told CityNews.ca. “The things are absolutely incompatible with any kind of future well-being for our country or for the world.”
Demonstrators stayed at Yonge-Dundas for about an hour until 3 p.m. before marching south on Yonge Street towards Old City Hall. A group of protesters rallied in front of the Royal Bank of Canada on King Street, one of the world’s largest financiers of Canada’s oilsands. The march ended at St. James Park, where the Occupy encampment was cleared Nov. 23.
Also at the demonstration was Occupy Gardens, which calls itself a growing collective of gardeners inspired by the Occupy movement.
“We’re basically trying to use the momentum, the energy and the spirit of the Occupy movement and infuse it with the food system,” Jacob Kearey-Moreland, an organizer with Occupy Gardens, told CityNews.ca, adding that the climate justice theme resonates with their mission.
“The industrial food system based on fossil fuels is absolutely wreaking havoc on our planet,” he said.
Kearey-Moreland said Occupy Gardens intends to plant food across the city in the spring “then tend to these food gardens as a community and share the produce with everyone who is hungry.”
“Most of the people now live in cities and are completely disconnected from the system,” he said. “They’re not growing or cooking it or sharing it or even eating it anymore.”
“It’s critical that we start growing food in the city so that we can reconnect people with the food system and [through that], with the Earth,” Kearey-Moreland said.
The group held its own general assembly at Nathan Phillips Square Saturday evening to discuss its plans to grow sustainable community gardens around Toronto.
Held in solidarity with demonstrations worldwide as part of a global day of action to put pressure on leaders to develop meaningful measures to address climate change, the demonstrators took up a slew of causes.
“We the 99% know capitalism is broken and can’t fix the earth,” Occupy wrote in a statement on its website. “Their solutions are killing the planet and people on the lands.”
“We will not let the planet be killed in silence.”
Demonstrators carried signs and chanted slogans supporting their climate justice agenda, including the Bhopal disaster on its 27th anniversary, the northern Alberta oilsands and the Keystone XL pipeline project. Protesters held the Canadian flag with a blackened leaf, seemingly dripping with tar.
“We are unstoppable. Another world is possible,” demonstrators chanted at Yonge-Dundas Square where there were a few guest speakers.
“I thank everyone for standing for Mother Earth, for standing for our children’s future and for standing to make things better,” Danny Beaton, a Mohawk environmentalist told the crowd.
“I’m absolutely ashamed of Canada’s action so far in terms of obstructing a workable solution globally to climate change,” Janine MacLeod, who is not involved in the Occupy movement but a supporter of climate justice, said. “And I want whatever climate solution we come up with to address social injustice simultaneously.”
“We have to stop expanding the tar sands operation, we can’t be building pipelines like the Northern Gateway pipeline or the Keystone XL pipeline,” MacLeod told CityNews.ca. “The things are absolutely incompatible with any kind of future well-being for our country or for the world.”
Demonstrators stayed at Yonge-Dundas for about an hour until 3 p.m. before marching south on Yonge Street towards Old City Hall. A group of protesters rallied in front of the Royal Bank of Canada on King Street, one of the world’s largest financiers of Canada’s oilsands. The march ended at St. James Park, where the Occupy encampment was cleared Nov. 23.
Also at the demonstration was Occupy Gardens, which calls itself a growing collective of gardeners inspired by the Occupy movement.
“We’re basically trying to use the momentum, the energy and the spirit of the Occupy movement and infuse it with the food system,” Jacob Kearey-Moreland, an organizer with Occupy Gardens, told CityNews.ca, adding that the climate justice theme resonates with their mission.
“The industrial food system based on fossil fuels is absolutely wreaking havoc on our planet,” he said.
Kearey-Moreland said Occupy Gardens intends to plant food across the city in the spring “then tend to these food gardens as a community and share the produce with everyone who is hungry.”
“Most of the people now live in cities and are completely disconnected from the system,” he said. “They’re not growing or cooking it or sharing it or even eating it anymore.”
“It’s critical that we start growing food in the city so that we can reconnect people with the food system and [through that], with the Earth,” Kearey-Moreland said.
The group held its own general assembly at Nathan Phillips Square Saturday evening to discuss its plans to grow sustainable community gardens around Toronto.
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