Ottawa, Ontario, February 7, 2024 — At 10 a.m. this morning, a supporter of  Last Generation Canada sprayed pink paint on a dinosaur skeleton in the  Fossil Gallery of the Canadian Museum of Nature. The action was meant to  draw attention to the climate crisis and to demand government action,  starting with the creation of a national firefighting agency to combat wildfires. Last Generation says that the paint sprayed is washable and  that the skeleton targeted was a cast reproduction not made of real  bones.

The choice of spray-painting a  dinosaur skeleton was meant to highlight the risk of mass extinction as a  result of the climate crisis. Last Generation Canada demands that the  federal government create a national firefighting agency that trains and  employs 50,000 firefighters in time for the 2024 fire season. The group  also calls for the implementation of a citizens' assembly with legally  binding power to guide Canada’s response to the climate and ecological  crisis.

“I’m saddened that it took me  spray-painting a dinosaur for us to talk about the fact that the  wildfires forced 200,000 people out of their homes this summer. The fact  that 8 firefighters died fighting the fires, one of whom was my age,  19. The fact that our government continues to do nothing about this  crisis,” says Étienne Eason, a university student who sprayed the  dinosaur skeleton.

The campaign’s actions and demands are sparked out of concern about the unprecedented Canadian wildfires, that emitted two billion tonnes of CO2 last summer, an amount greater than the total emissions of 100 countries. The wildfires burned through five per cent of Canada’s Boreal forest, charring an area the size of Greece.

“Wildfires are burning right  now, ” says Gillian Graham, a 24 year-old Last Generation supporter.  “2023 was disastrous. Every Canadian was affected, some severely. Prime  Minister Trudeau—we need you to act immediately on the 2024 crisis that  is brewing.”

At present, volunteers make up over 70 per cent of the Canadian firefighting force. As Alberta Fire Chiefs urgently call for a provincial strategy, Last Generation Canada calls on the federal  government to train and employ 50,000 firefighters this year.

“People need to realize that if  the government does not act urgently on this crisis, humanity will be  heading down a path similar to this dinosaur,” says Eason. “We’re  currently staring down the barrel of a mass extinction event. If you  care about this dinosaur, if you care about the creatures of the past, I  urge you to consider the life on Earth that is currently under threat.”