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Environmentalists Protest During Harper's Speech in Canada
Ottawa, Jan 6 (Prensa Latina) Two Canadian environmentalists managed today to evade security and disrupt a Vancouver event involving Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to protest his government''s policies that exacerbate climate change.
The protesters, a man and a woman, walked across the stage behind the prime minister carrying placards demanding the adoption of environmentally friendly initiatives in Canada.
Harper was about to launch into a question-and-answer period put on by the Vancouver Board of Trade, his first public event this year.
The demonstrators were led off the stage and out of the room without a confrontation. One of them was arrested, according to the CBC.
According to pacifist Brigette DePape, the incident is part of a national movement against the oil industry that also includes legal action by Canadian First Nations and blocking oil projects in their territories.
Since coming to power in 2006, Harper's conservative government gave priority to the development of the energy sector, the construction of large pipelines and foreign sales of crude bitumen in the province of Alberta, although scientists, environmentalists and First Nations warn about the negative impact of that activity.
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