Youth removed from House of Commons after staging climate sit-in
Posted October 28, 2019 7:37 am.
Last Updated October 28, 2019 11:02 am.
OTTAWA — More than two dozen young Canadians are facing a month-long ban from Parliament Hill after staging a climate-change protest inside the House of Commons this morning.
The group Our Time wants to deliver 338 mandate letters to MPs elected last week asking them to prioritize a “green new deal” when Parliament resumes.
Niklas Agarwal, a 24-year-old recent geography graduate from Toronto, is one of 27 youth who got into the parliamentary building by joining a free visitors’ tour.
A group of young people occupied the floor of the House of Commons this morning to call for climate action. They tell me the sit in lasted 10-20 minutes before they were arrested by Parliamentary Protective Services #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/GzcPcTN54R
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) October 28, 2019
When the tour took them into the House of Commons, they sat down on the floor, unfurled protest signs printed on yellow cloths and refused to move.
Security removed them within 15 minutes, issued each a trespassing ticket along with a 30-day ban.
Agarwal says the punishment was worth it because there is limited time to prevent a climate emergency, and the new Parliament is offering the best chance Canada has ever had to take action.