Mass civil disobedience: Protesters to disrupt Vancouver traffic in bid to highlight urgency of climate change

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’re angry at them, that’s part of the plan.

That message is coming from climate change protesters with the Extinction Rebellion movement, who are being transparent about their intentions to disrupt traffic in downtown Vancouver Friday afternoon.

A number of protesters already have a court date set for November, and police are recommending charges of obstructing a peace officer for many, after Extinction Rebellion rallies took to bridges around the world, including Vancouver’s Burrard Street Bridge last week.

Maayan Kreitzman was one of the 10 people arrested. She says she’s ready to face additional consequences should it come to that this time around.

“We’ve all been writing letters to our MPs and going on sanctioned marches and then going home,” she tells NEWS 1130. “Then trying to lobby. There’s all sorts of proposals from think tanks and academics about the solutions for the climate crisis. None of this has really affected policy in a real way.”

Friday’s march won’t be the last, she says.

“This is a worldwide movement, it’s only been in existence for a year. We’ve seen around the world the escalation that has already taken place. From about a year ago in London, when this movement started, there’s been a series of escalating actions, and I foresee that continuing to escalate and grow around the world, essentially until our demands are met,” she says.

It's chaos theory. Extinction Rebellion protesters will snake march through downtown traffic, hoping a little disruption will make you take notice of a climate crisis. On @NEWS1130 this morning, we speak to @Maayanster following her arrest on the Burrard Bridge earlier this month

— Ash Kelly she/her (settler) (@AshDKelly) October 18, 2019

“This is not a short term mobilization, this is organizing for the long haul as we escalate and as more and more people wake up to the situation that we’re in and feel called to really do something about it,” Kreitzman adds.

She claims there’s been a lot of positive reaction to the many protests activists have held. Kreitzman says there has also been some “expected” reaction she describes as “annoyance, misunderstanding, negative reaction.”

“I’ve only really seen that online, I haven’t met people in person that have reacted that way to me, and that’s understandable and it’s absolutely part of the plan,” she says.

Extinction Rebellion has been “transparent” with its plans, she notes, in order to give people the time to plan ahead.

The group is also hosting a series of public talks called “Heading for Extinction and What to Do About it” meant to educate people on the most up-to-date climate and social science the movement is based on.

“And if that sounds dark, well it’s time to really face and feel the feelings of what it is to be going into the dark future,” says Kreitzman.

Friday afternoon’s snake march will start in the area of Hamilton and West Georgia streets at 4:30 p.m.

“A snake march means we walk through the streets, but without a pre-planned route. So that is quite disruptive,” Kreitzman explains. “The strategy of causing disruption and engaging in intentional, illegal acts is what civil disobedience means.”

She says part of Extinction Rebellion’s strategy is to engage in “peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience in order to draw attention to the unjust system that we live in.”

If that means they get arrested, Kreitzman says so be it.

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