LAST GENERATION
Today a supporter of Last Generation Canada spray painted the US embassy in Ottawa pink. The action comes a day after two Last Generation Canada supporters made national and international headlines painting the Tesla dealership in Montreal pink, thus joining a growing global movement against Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk.
Last Generation Canada is demanding that Canada stand up to US president Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who are destroying democracies and spreading climate denial. Last Generation Canada is also calling on the Canadian government to create a Climate Disaster Protection Agency to help Canadians whose homes, communities, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by extreme weather caused by fossil fuels. The group wants the government to pay for the agency by levying punitive taxes against the ultra-rich, who are overwhelmingly responsible for the climate crisis.
Starting at around 11 am ET, Gillian Graham, a supporter of Last Generation Canada, spray painted the front of the US embassy in Ottawa pink and as of 11:21 am ET, is currently being held inside the embassy.
When asked what compelled her to take action, Gillian Graham, age 25, of Ottawa, ON, said:
“Pink paint is nothing compared to far right tyranny. Every day, Donald Trump is moving the United States towards facism, spreading hate and bigotry, dismantling democracy, and gutting scientific institutions. The handover of the country to the billionaire class is destroying our chance of a liveable future. Our planet is burning. Wildfires, floods, and deadly heat waves are destroying lives. Yet our leaders care more about protecting billionaires than protecting us. Democracy has been hijacked by corporate interests and the billionaire class. We’re done asking. We need a Climate Disaster Protection Agency, funded by the billionaires who created this crisis. While they hoard obscene wealth, we don’t have enough firefighters. Young people are dying on the frontlines, fighting fires that never should have spread this far. Experts have been warning us for decades, and our government still does nothing.”
The action comes as the FBI criminalizes major climate groups in the US, President Donald Trump, a climate denier, escalates the expansion of fossil fuels and targets climate scientists, and the World Meteorological Organization notes Earth just experienced its warmest decade ever. Here in Canada, Big Oil is calling on the government to speed up development of disastrous pipeline projects, Alberta wildfire season has already started and Canadians are gearing up for what will be another deadly summer with extreme wildfires, heatwaves and floods.
It’s clear – billionaires and fossil fuel companies are waging war on humanity. The climate crisis is decimating people’s lives across the world and in Canada. Governments and fossil fuel companies have known about the devastating and deadly consequences of burning fossil fuels for decades. Despite this, Canada has continued to bankroll the industry. Canadians remain unprotected in the face of climate disaster and threats posed by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The social contract is broken – it’s time for Canadians to disrupt business as usual to ensure our protection and make the rich pay for what they’ve done.