Today, a supporter of Last Generation Canada smeared pink paint on the Pablo Picasso painting ‘L’Hétaire,’ part of the Berthe Weill exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and currently remains on site. The action is part of a 3-week action phase that saw Last Generation Canada supporters arrested for painting the Montreal casino pink, blocking Rue Saint Denis and painting the BMO Museum pink. At the BMO Museum action, 12 people on site for support were searched and temporarily detained by Montreal police. 

The group is demanding the Canadian government create a Climate Disaster Protection Agency to help people whose homes, communities, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by extreme weather including wildfires worsened by the burning of fossil fuels. The group wants the government to pay for the agency by levying punitive taxes against the ultra-rich, as well as fossil fuel executives and bank CEOs, who are profiting from the climate crisis.

Starting at around 10:30 am ET, Marcel, a supporter of Last Generation Canada, smeared washable pink paint on the Pablo Picasso painting, ‘L’Hétaire,’ part of the Berthe Weill exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. As of 10:45 am, Marcel was currently still in the museum waiting for police to arrive and the exhibit room had been evacuated.

When asked what compelled them to take action, Marcel, age 21, said this:

“We value paint strokes and colour composition over life itself. A lot more resources have been put in place to secure and protect this artwork than to protect living, breathing people. So, what do the elite actually value? We are now facing a dilemma: to protect art made by long dead artists for no one to see, or to protect the new and future artistic geniuses for their works to be seen by our children and grandchildren. Art only flourishes when people live, not when they survive. Who in Manitoba, where wildfires have been raging, even has the time and energy right now to become the next Picasso?”

Today’s action comes as almost 250 wildfires burn across Canada, devouring land at a pace not seen in any other year, except 2023, the worst on record. Experts say Saskatchewan fires will burn until the first snowfall. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, with First Nations disproportionately impacted, and Australian firefighters have been called in for support. In Manitoba, two people have already died this season. This deadly start to yet another catastrophic wildfire season is a sobering reminder that the worst is yet to come. Science shows the situation will only get worse, particularly if our government keeps supporting the ultra-rich and subsidizing fossil fuels.

It’s clear – billionaires, bank CEOs and fossil fuel companies are waging war on humanity. The climate crisis is decimating people’s lives across the world and in Canada. Meanwhile, in Montreal, the ultra-rich are gathering to party, gamble and have fun while Canada burns. Governments and Big Oil, plus the banks that prop them up, have known about the devastating and deadly consequences of burning fossil fuels for decades. Despite this, Canada has continued to bankroll the industry. Canadians remain unprotected in the face of climate disaster and the government must stop gambling with our lives. The social contract is broken – it’s time for Canadians to disrupt business as usual to ensure our protection and make the rich pay for what they’ve done.