Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion is preparing for a disruptive, four-day protest walk from Vancouver to Victoria – via Richmond and the Massey Tunnel.
The Vancouver wing of the global group – whose aim is to cause peaceful disruption to force governments to take action against tipping points in the climate system – will set off this Friday morning around 9 a.m. from the Olympic Flame in Downtown Vancouver.
The group's latest protest blocked the Cambie Street Bridge in Vancouver last month.
According to Extinction Rebellion, the group, which plans to walk on the streets, will move down Granville Street, over the Granville Bridge, turn east on 15th Avenue and take Wolfe to Oak streets.
It plans to be at the Marine Drive Canada Line station at around 1 p.m. before making its way across the pedestrian bridge and into Richmond.
They will then head east on River Road to Shell Road and then take the Shell Road Trail to Steveston Highway, with an estimated arrival time of 4 p.m.
The group will then disperse for the day, before reconvening Saturday morning at 10 a.m. where they will walk along Steveston Highway and then through the Massey Tunnel into Delta.
A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion Vancouver said she doesn’t recall the group ever walking through the Massey Tunnel before.
“We will be blocking one side of it as people walk through on Saturday morning,” she added.
“The walk will take place on public roads and will be disruptive.”
The four-day journey on foot and ferry – titled “Walk for Mother Earth” - will eventually call on the provincial government to “take urgent action on the climate and ecological emergency.”
When they reach the BC legislature on April 20, they plan to nail their proposed “Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill” to the legislature doors.
After leaving the Massey Tunnel on Saturday, the walk will turn west at River Road and then South at Arthur Drive, before heading west on Ladner Trunk Road.
It will then go south on Arthur Drive to 53rd (Deltaport Crossing) and then west at 28th and then south at 52nd.
The group will walk through the Tsawwassen Mills parking lot at Salish Drive and cross the highway before finally making its way to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.
“Government after government is still operating as if there’s no future to consider,” said Quetzo Herejk, a clinical counselor participating in the walk.
“The message of my footsteps is for Horgan and Trudeau to know that many of us are paying attention to the continued erosion of Indigenous rights, our democracies, and their derision for the web of life that actually sustains us!
“From a psychological point of view, they are gas-lighting the masses, denying the truths about our fate, being two-faced...all of this is shockingly bad behavior, not to mention delusional.
“In the face of such a failing system, I'm just one person standing up to say 'This will be the death of us, you have the power to do better right now, please do!'”
Extinction Rebellion Vancouver is also planning a week of disruptive action starting May 1 in Vancouver, where they plan to block more streets and bridges.
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