Extinction Rebellion Vancouver, a group that protests government inaction on the climate crisis, staged a die-in demonstration at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday.
The group spilled “blood,” acted dead, and some 50 people marched in the downtown core, temporarily halting traffic. Organizers say the “blood” is made from water with natural beet dye and washes away.
“The blood symbolizes the dying and suffering of people and all our non human relations because of the endless greed and exploitation of living systems,” said Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Maayan Kreitzman.
Vancouver police said the protest was peaceful, but three people were arrested afterward because they refused to vacate the intersection and allow traffic to resume. They were taken to jail then released pending court dates.
Extinction Rebellion wants governments to respond to the climate and ecological crisis with a just transition to clean energy and is demanding urgent action to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
“We do not want to cause disruption to people going about their everyday lives, but we have no other choice to get the message across,” said Grace Grignon, a volunteer spokesperson for the group, in a statement.
Grignon said climate disasters like melting ice caps and huge forest fires get more terrifying by the day, but instead of taking action, governments continue to allow emissions and habitat destruction to increase.
The group wants the Canadian government to create a citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice to create an emergency action plan.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email [email protected] .
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2021
