Advocacy group Indigenous Climate Action rallied support with a Water Walk on April 10, urging solidarity for communities impacted by the Royal Bank of Canada’s funded projects that threaten the climate.
The walk was organized in collaboration with Free Grassy, a community organization for Grassy Narrows First Nation, which is fighting for justice in the ongoing mercury crisis.
Grassy Narrows faced a grave environmental crisis in the ‘60s and ‘70s as industrial pollution tainted its water with mercury, which a study by McGill University described it “as a devastating blow to Grassy Narrows.” An area mill leaked about 9,000 kilograms of mercury into the English-Wabigoon River system over eight years beginning in 1962, the study said.
Fish, their main source of food, contained extremely high levels of mercury from toxic dumping by the Dryden Chemicals pulp and paper mill upstream
The contamination has spanned three generations, leaving a profound and enduring impact on the community.
Indigenous delegates and allies gathered at Harbour Square Park to walk up Bay Street, hand-in-hand as they chanted for justice.
“What do we want? Justice,” the group shouted. “If we don’t get it? Shut it down.”
The rally was arranged in preparation for RBC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 11, where common shareholders and registered proxy holders can raise questions about RBC’s operations and vote on resolutions.
Eve Saint, Wet’suwet’en land defender and daughter of Hereditary Chief Woos, wrote in the National Observer that she experienced segregation during RBC’s 2023 AGM.
In her piece for the National Observer, she wrote how the Indigenous, Black, People of Colour (IBPOC) delegation to RBC’s AGM were considered registered proxy holders and were authorized to be present during the meeting.
“The IBPOC delegation was never allowed to set foot in the AGM conference room,” she said. “Instead, we were shunted to another room, our only attendance at the AGM watching it unfold on a television screen.”
Alongside Saint at the water walk was Chief Na’Moks, Hereditary Chief of Wet’suwet’en, who stood in front of the RBC building to voice his concern about the trajectory of Canadian banks and their funding of fossil fuel projects.
“The Royal Bank of Canada, your future cannot continue,” Na’Moks said. “You come to our lives and say that our water is nothing, our children are nothing, and we are nothing. We have a right to say they are wrong.”
RBC, Canada’s largest bank, is one of the world’s most significant fossil fuel financiers.
Environmental coalitions and climate activists have actively pushed for RBC to get rid of fossil fuel funding in hopes of making it more difficult to build new oil and gas projects.
Banking on Climate Chaos, a 2022 study published by a coalition of environmental groups, found since 2016, RBC has provided a total of $252.5 billion to the fossil fuel industry.
“The truth is, this very bank is killing this planet,” Na’Moks said.
At the end of the walk, just outside the St. Regis Hotel, Cedar George Parker of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation urged the rally to continue to fight.
“They can’t keep making us criminals for standing up for what we believe in,” Parker said. “That’s why we’re here, to push back. To say no more oppression.”
Jason Crazy Bear Keck, the co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, additionally shared his experience with the rally.
“Although we deal with this white supremacy that poisoned our cultures, we will always come back and support our original cultures,” Keck said.
An advocacy group, 7 Directions of Service was founded by Keck and his wife Crystal Cavalier-Keck, an organization that actively fights against the construction of pipelines and mobilizes grassroots resistance.
In an email response, RBC said it is committed to supporting its clients and communities in the journey to become a greener economy.
“RBC strives to be a leading financial institution in Canada to work with Indigenous people and communities towards reconciliation, supporting economic development, community endeavours and educational opportunities,” the statement said.
RBC said its goal is to “grow its low-carbon energy lending to $35 billion” and allocate “$1 billion to support the development and scaling of innovative climate solutions” by 2030.
In the wake of the Water Walk for RBC, advocates remain resolute, ready to amplify their voices at RBC’s 2024 AGM.