Ottawa, Ontario, May 28th, 2024 —  At 8am this morning, three supporters of Last Generation Canada climbed  over 3 gantries, closing sections of Highway 417 in Ottawa. Last  Generation Canada is demanding government action on the climate crisis,  starting with the creation of a national firefighting agency. In  addition, the group demands that the government implement a citizens'  assembly with legally binding power to decide how to tackle the climate  and ecological crisis this year. These disruptions come on the heels of  over 10 000 facing evacuation orders so far this wildfire season.

Since 2023, the campaign has  interrupted the Juno Awards, painted museum exhibits, threw paint on  art, and caused traffic delays. A part of the global A22 Network, Last  Generation Canada is coordinated by ordinary people driven to act as  climate impacts ravage the country.

“I don’t take disruption lightly,” says Seph Marshall, a masters student  at McGill who climbed a gantry today. “I’m taking this action because I  am tired of seeing the slow extinction of all life on earth due to the  criminal negligence of our government and the subsidization of our  fossil fuel extraction. As a result of this, our country is burning and  our government is not protecting Canadian citizens. I don’t want to be  up on a gantry, I don’t want to be blocking people that don’t deserve to  have their days disrupted, but this is urgent; everyone’s lives are at  risk.”

The group’s demands are fueled  by the out-of-control Canadian wildfires that, in 2023 released two  billion tonnes of CO2, an amount greater than the total emissions of 100  countries. The wildfires destroyed five per cent of Canada’s Boreal forest, an area the size of Greece.

Currently, over 70 per cent of  Canadian firefighters are volunteers. As Alberta Fire Chiefs urgently  call for a provincial strategy, Quebec firefighters prepare for a  strike, and Ontario cuts its wildfire fighting budget, Last Generation  Canada calls on the federal government to train and employ 50,000  firefighters this year.

“I have to take this action; I am doing this because it is important to me to act for the climate, ''  says Louve, a 21 year old on a gantry today. “I am unable to withstand  this inaction. The stress and consequences of this action today are incomparable to the stress of the climate crisis that is coming towards us.”

The nonviolent campaign says  disruptions will continue into this summer and the campaign will  iteratively undertake further nonviolent disruptive action in the future until their demands are met.