Six people were arrested Monday night after an environmental group blocked rush-hour traffic on Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge for a sit-in and vigil, protesting the causes of climate change.
The bridge was closed for almost two hours, between and 8 p.m.
A Facebook group created for the event said protesters planned to block traffic on the bridge for 12 minutes, one minute for each of the 12 years they say the world has left to address the climate crisis. The rally was also to include a two minute moment of silence to acknowledge the depth of the climate emergency.
The protest started at Centennial Square with roughly 100 people gathered, listening to speeches, before heading to the Johnson Street Bridge. After an hour of occupying the bridge a small group of protesters remained behind. They continued to sit on the bridge blocking traffic before being arrested. Six protesters stayed on the bridge until the end, and were arrested calmly.
They’ve made it to the #JohnsonStBridge . Officials put down the west gate to keep everyone contained. The sit in should start soon. Bridge access is closed to vehicle traffic #YYJTraffic #YYJ pic.twitter.com/SysxHzUkn5
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) December 4, 2018
The sit-in and vigil was organized by a group on Vancouver Island to coincide with the first day of the annual UN climate change conference, happening in Poland this year.
The protest group numbering about 250 has departed Centennial Square & are headed towards the Johnson Street Bridge via Pandora Ave. Our officers have reminded them that blocking a highway is not lawful. #yyjtraffic in the area will be disrupted.
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) December 4, 2018
“This gathering is in solidarity with people worldwide taking bold action demanding governments transition to a 100 per cent renewable energy future; and with Indigenous frontline communities, from Secwepemc territory to the Unist’ot’en Yintah, holding the line to protect water, land and life and to stop dangerous fossil fuel expansion across unceded homelands,” the group wrote in a statement on the event.
Activists are preparing to march on the Johnson Street Bridge in protest of Canada’s climate policies. They’ll stage a sit in on the bridge after speeches here at #CentennialSquare #yyj pic.twitter.com/xUtAcV5Qje
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) December 4, 2018
The group says this was the first action to be taken in a “graduated-escalation of local, non-violent people-powered direct-action that will continue until dramatic climate action is taken.”
Participants are calling on the governments of Canada and B.C. to abandon plans for expanding the Alberta tarsands and continued fracking, and instead reallocate their funding towards green energy projects as part of an aggressive plan to meet UN targets.