Environmental activists target Montreal airport for third consecutive day

MONTREAL — Environmental activists have caused disruptions outside Montreal Trudeau International Airport for three consecutive days protesting Canadian fossil fuel policy.

On Friday around 12:30 p.m., three people with activist group Last Generation Canada glued their hands to a road that connects the airport’s departure and arrival ramps, temporarily blocking vehicle access to the terminal.

Shortly before 2 p.m., the group issued a news release saying it is demanding that Ottawa “sign a legally binding treaty to stop extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by 2030.”

Pointing to the wildfire that devastated Jasper, Alta., earlier this week, the group called on the government to create what it calls a “permanent national firefighting agency that employs 50,000 full-time firefighters and a citizens’ assembly … to tackle the climate and ecological crisis.”

Airport authorities said on the X platform that the protest delayed passengers from accessing the terminal. Police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc said the protest lasted two hours and that three people — two men and one woman — were arrested for mischief.

The airport authority said Friday that it would take legal action against the protest group. “We deplore the fact that the site has been targeted by this action at a time when the group is trying to draw the attention of the federal government to a much broader social debate,” Eric Forest, airport spokesman, said in an email.

Later in the day, Forest said the airport authority obtained a provisional injunction to “prevent any obstruction of operations/demonstrations or other such activities” by Last Generation.

On Thursday, protesters with the same group spay-painted exterior windows at the airport, resulting in police arresting two people for mischief. On Wednesday, police made three arrests after protesters with signs saying “oil kills” glued their hands on the ramp leading to the departures area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press