OTTAWA – Thirty protestors gathered outside the Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gala at the Canadian War Museum to protest the involvement of the Royal Bank of Canada in the event, calling out the bank’s continued funding of the fossil fuel industry and violations of Indigenous sovereignty. The protest, jointly organized by Change Course and Greenpeace Canada, included a 14-foot inflatable effigy of RBC CEO Dave McKay, who has been referred to by environmental groups as a “climate villain”[1], alongside a large-scale projection featuring phrases like “RBC Funds the CGL Pipeline, Threatening Wild Salmon”.
“RBC is the world’s biggest fossil fuel financier. Despite its attendance at an event meant to celebrate those highlighting “the gifts our lands and waters bring to all Canadians”, RBC is actively damaging Indigenous lands and waters through its funding practices,” said student Alex Stratas. “Until RBC stops funding climate destruction and colonial violence, they should not be given a platform to enable their greenwashing. We call on post-secondary institutions, and all organizations that claim to care about environmental protection and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, to cut ties with RBC.”
In addition to having financed fossil fuel development to the tune of USD$42.1 billion in 2022 [2], RBC remains one of the biggest funders of the Coastal GasLink pipeline [3] — a project cutting through Wet’suwet’en territory that not only lacks the free, prior and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, but is also being actively resisted by Indigenous land defenders.[4] Coastal GasLink has been criticized for threatening wild salmon populations in the Wedzin Kwa (Morice River) on Wet’suwet’en territory, and was slapped with fines for misinformation and environmental deficiencies this past September.[5][6]
Between 2016 and 2022, RBC allocated a mere 1% of its energy finance to renewable energy.[7]
“The generosity RBC shows nature appreciation groups is dwarfed by the generosity it shows the fossil fuel industry,” said Tara Seucharan, mobilization campaigner at Greenpeace Canada. “Banks like RBC show up to these events because they want the public to see them as good corporate citizens. By continuing to put 99% of its energy finance into fossil fuels, RBC is part of the problem. We’re here to cut through the greenwashing and remind the public that banks are only as good as what they finance. And if banks like RBC won’t do it on their own, then we should demand that our elected officials make them be part of the solution.”
In the past year, students across the country have taken action against RBC and other banks that fund climate chaos, demanding they divest from fossil fuels or get off campuses. Last spring, the University of Ottawa General Assembly passed a motion denouncing RBC’s continued funding of fossil fuels and committing itself to advocate for their removal from campus.[8]
Hours before the demonstration in front of the RCGS gala, RBC executives met with University of Ottawa students in an attempt to quell the student movement growing against them on campuses.
“We reiterated our demands to RBC, and told them they can expect to continue facing pressure from students across the country until those demands are met,” said student Alex Stratas.
ENDS
Notes to editor:
Photos and videos of the event can be found here.
Background information or additional resources
[3] https://www.banktrack.org/project/coastal_gaslink_pipeline 6
[4] https://thenarwhal.ca/wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-rcmp-overview/
[5] https://thenarwhal.ca/coastal-gaslink-spawning-salmon/
[6] https://globalnews.ca/news/9979400/bc-coastal-gaslink-fines-violations/
[8] https://changecourse.ca/student-win-ottawa/
For more information, please contact:
Claire Le Saux, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected]; +1 438 925-0794
Levi Clarkson, Change Course
[email protected]; +1 613 297 7900