A U of T student was among seven protestors arrested Monday for a day long sit-in at finance minister Jim Flaherty’s Whitby constituency office.
“We got the message that [Flaherty] was too busy to speak to us. We negotiated to speak to the chief of staff and he was not interested in having any kind of discussion,” said Indra Noyes, the fourth-year psychology student who was among the seven.
Last Saturday marked the third such protest in recent weeks by the group People for Climate Change, which formed to pressure the government to take stronger action on climate change as world leaders gather for negotiations in Copenhagen. Demonstrators have also occupied the offices of environmental minister Jim Prentice and labour minister Rona Ambrose.
The group wants Canada to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 25 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. On Monday, they delivered a letter to Flaherty, calling on him to make commitments that include passing the Climate Change Accountability Act and signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. “Climate change is a human rights issue, and First Nations in Canada are feeling climate change worst and first,” the letter reads.
Protestors crashed the office at 9:30 a.m. and chained themselves together, while others picketed outside. Police arrived shortly after but let them stay until 4:30 p.m., when the office closed. Two protestors had to be carried out.
During the day, demonstrators sung, chanted, tweeted, and spoke to media. Their rendition of “Hey Jim”—a take on “Hey Jude”—failed to net a meeting with the minister.
Flaherty’s office could not be reached for comment. Press secretary Chisholm Pothier told CTV that occupying the office was “the absolutely worst way to get a meeting with the minister.” Pothier said the group did not make a formal request to meet Flaherty before the protest.
All seven were charged with criminal mischief, trespass, and loitering, according to Noyes. They also had to sign an agreement of non-association until their Jan. 14 court date, with exemptions for those who work together.
Noyes sits on the board of the U of T Environmental Resource Network, and is involved with Rainforest Action Network Toronto and Community Solidarity Response Team, an activist group that works with communities affected by Canadian mining companies. The companies have long denied allegations of human rights abuses from at least 30 countries.
Despite what she called an incredibly disappointing response from Flaherty’s office, Noyes said there are more sit-ins planned, though she did not know specifics.
“Non-violent direct action has been a part of every single struggle of social change,” said Noyes. “If our government doesn’t lead, then the people will lead and the government will have to follow.”
