Climate advocates gathered outside Ottawa Centre Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi’s constituency office on June 25, joining coordinated demonstrations in more than 40 communities across Canada to oppose the federal Liberal government’s support for a proposed new pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia.
Organized locally by 350.org Canada and Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN!), the demonstration called on the federal government to reject new fossil fuel infrastructure, strengthen environmental protections and invest instead in renewable energy and public infrastructure.
Holding signs reading “There Is No Planet B” and “Faster Climate Action,” protesters rallied outside Naqvi’s office before attempting to deliver a large, printed copy of the People’s Memorandum of Understanding — People’s MOU —which outlines demands for stronger climate action.
Organizers said they had contacted Naqvi’s constituency office in advance to request an opportunity to deliver the People’s MOU in person but received no response. They told demonstrators they were later informed by a police liaison that office staff would not be unlocking the door, prompting organizers to tape the oversized People’s MOU to the office door instead.
The action was part of a nationwide day of protest marking the fifth anniversary of British Columbia’s deadly 2021 heat dome, which claimed hundreds of lives. The demonstrations also came a week before a joint July 2 announcement by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney that the proposed route for a new West Coast pipeline will run between Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton, to Roberts Bank Terminal in Delta, B.C., just south of Vancouver.
“We’re asking MPs to commit to the People’s MOU: stop fast-tracking destruction, support our communities and the land, invest in an energy transition, say no to new pipelines, tax Big Oil and support our future,” said organizer Vee Bui during the rally.
Bui criticized what she described as the federal government’s recent shift away from climate commitments.
‘The pipeline is honestly the last straw. They have completely walked back every climate commitment they had.’
— Vee Bui, organizer, People’s MOU rally
“The pipeline is honestly the last straw,” Bui told demonstrators. “They have completely walked back every climate commitment they had.”
Throughout the rally, speakers encouraged participants to imagine alternative uses for public funding, calling for investments in affordable housing, health care, education, clean electricity infrastructure and renewable energy instead of fossil fuel projects.
Retired Ottawa resident Sandra, who attended the demonstration, said she wants Naqvi to prioritize environmental protection over the interests of oil companies.
“I would like him to pressure all the government decision-makers to help more of the environment and not the oil companies,” she said. “We’ve been providing them money, and they’re not doing the cleanup. They’re not being good citizens.”
She said Canada should be investing more heavily in renewable energy.
“It’s costing a lot cheaper than oil is right now,” she said. “The government should be promoting it.”
SCAN! member Malcolm Lombo said demonstrations like Thursday’s are intended to pressure elected officials to strengthen Canada’s climate policies. “We are here to try and convince our MP to change his mind and understand the urgency of climate change,” he said.
“Our government is moving away from what we thought they were going to do,” said Lombo. “They seem to be pandering to corporations rather than climate change. We think it’s short-sighted.”
The People’s MOU calls on the federal government to abandon proposals that would accelerate approvals for major industrial projects, reject new oil and gas extraction, impose a 75-per-cent excess profits tax on fossil fuel companies and invest in renewable electricity infrastructure across Canada.
The Ottawa demonstration was one of more than 40 coordinated actions held in communities across Canada as part of 350.org Canada’s People’s MOU Day of Action, organized in response to the Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding signed by Carney and Smith to advance a new West Coast pipeline.
