For Immediate Release, Feb 27th, 2021
Contact:
Maayan Kreitzman 604 723 9577
Unceded Coast Salish Territories (VANCOUVER, BC) — Extinction Rebellion’s Vancouver chapter will engage in peaceful civil disobedience today, Feb. 27, 2021 from noon onwards starting with a gathering on the North side of the Vancouver Art Gallery, located on the unceded territory of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. The group plans to spill ‘blood’ in a theatrical demonstration of mourning, and peacefully occupy public space, which will include disrupting traffic in downtown Vancouver. The groups released an open letter two days ago, informing the local First Nations, the general public, the city, and the police of the action. The action will highlight the group’s four demands:
Government must respond to the climate and ecological crisis with a just transformation that is actively decolonial, prioritizing the livelihoods of workers and the rights of those most oppressed by the present system, including our non-human relations.
Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
“We do not want to cause disruption to people going about their everyday lives, but we have no other choice to get the message across,” said Grace Grignon, a volunteer spokesperson for the movement. “Policies put forward by the Canadian government, including continued development of the TMX pipeline, gloss over the existential threat of global warming and ecological collapse. Climate disasters like melting ice caps and huge forest fires get more terrifying by the day, but instead of taking action, they allow emissions and habitat destruction to increase. We demand that the Canadian government create a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice to create an emergency action plan.” The group’s third demand regarding the creation of a Citizens’ Assembly (CA), is being forwarded through a House of Commons petition. CA’s are randomly selected groups of regular people who are tasked with making decisions after a process of deliberation, with the support of professional facilitation and access to experts. “Citizens’ Assemblies allow normal people to make far better decisions than politicians do,” said Laura Lamb, an Extinction Rebellion volunteer. “By removing the perverse short term incentives and corruption in electoral politics, CAs empower regular people that represent what Canada actually looks like to find real solutions. They are our best hope to upgrade democracy in time to prevent social collapse and mass extinction of species from happening.”
Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken. Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an international grassroots movement that uses nonviolent direct action to mobilize the public to drive systemic change in the face of the climate and ecological crisis. Extinction Rebellion is fully made up of volunteers and relies solely on donations.
Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government. ###