Toxic Toronto Rears Its Head To Greet the G8/G20

By Kimia Ghomeshi

Photos by Ben Powless

June 23^rd 2010 marked the Environmental and Climate Justice Day of Action during the G20 Resistance in Canada.  This was our day as youth activists to take back our streets and voice our resistance to the environmental destruction, the climate crisis and human rights atrocities being propagated by G20 policies. And what manifested on this beautiful sunny day was truly magical.

What was later called the more creative demonstration of the week, the Toxic Tour of Toronto saw hundreds of people out in downtown Toronto paying visits to the key institutions responsible for destructive social and environmental impacts of mining and exploring practices at home and abroad.   Canada is a global leader in the mining industry, home to 75% of global mining companies, and of course the embarrassingly notorious Alberta Tar Sands, the largest and most destructive industrial project on earth. And these unregulated industrial practices are putting Canada on the forefront of global climate crimes.

Canada’s place within the G8 nations is largely due to the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and the rural poor and their lands for mining, tar sands and oil/gas exploitation.

The toxic tour exposed the Canadian government, banks, and corporations self-selected to meet at the G20 who destroy people’s livelihoods and ecosystems to secure wealth accumulation for a select few.

TOXIC TOUR THEMES Human rights violations and environmental degradation associated with Canadian mining practices, at home and abroad The Tar Sands, the most destructive industrial project on earth – sucking our water, polluting our air, destroying our land, violating aboriginal treaty rights, and creating climate chaos Corporate influence over academic institutions like the University of Toronto stifles open, honest, and critical debate in our institutions of higher learning The climate crisis and how it is exacerbated by the global mining practices The Canadian economy’s built on socially destructive practices as opposed to the clean and just future that is possible.

The colourful crowd weaved its way through the city, geared with floats depicting the monstrous Tar Sands, the BP oil spill, the “evil” mining truck, and the “dragon” pipeline spreading to a town near you.  People were covered in “oil”, dressed as corporate clowns, acting as the “climate change containment unit”, and the rally was in high spirits moving to the tune of the samba band, Rhythms of Resistance, and performance by political hip hop artists Testament and Illogic. Placards made the connections between the impacts of large scale mining on rural and indigenous communities, with messages like “Would you want your community poisoned?”, “Would you drink toxic water?”, “G20 Complicit in Climate Crisis,” and “Clean Water, Land, and Air for All.”  The Toxic Tour made stops at Royal Bank of Canada, the top financier of the Alberta Tar Sands, the Mining building of the University of Toronto, financed by Barrick Gold, a Canadian mining company responsible for blatant human rights atrocities worldwide, and finally the Court House where Toronto-based lawyers shared the story of El Salvadorians who have filed a law suit against Copper Mesa mining company.

Story telling was a critical part of the Tour. There were 3 first nations speakers, Jasmine Thomas, Riannon Ball, and Mel Basil from northern BC who are fighting the Enbridge pipeline developments from the Tar Sands, and a Guatemalan and Kenyan speaker, Naty Atz Sunc and Isaiah Kipyegon Toroitich respectively, from the KAIROS Climate Justice tour who spoke about the gravity of mining and the climate crisis in their communities.  Their stories from “ground zero” were deeply moving and a critical part of the day in order to understand the relationship between industrial practices and social and environmental injustice being experienced worldwide.

Lasting Impressions

It was so empowering to see a coming together of community organizers from various social movements at the Toxic Tour of Toronto in solidarity with marginalized communities fighting for self-determination of their land and resources, and for free, prior and informed consent for industrial projects on their land.  Migrant justice, gender justice, economic justice, indigenous sovereignty , community control over resources – our collective vision of just future is threatened by the very real and imminent dangers of the climate crisis that is already causing the displacement and death of hundreds of thousands of people annually.  The toxic tour was an opportunity to build understanding of how our struggles are connected by deep rooted systemic issues that bind us to economic and financial systems, systems that can only function based on the oppression and exploitation of indigenous peoples, people of colour, poor communities and the global south, all for the benefit of the elite worldwide.  Seeking climate justice is seeking justice and inequality for all peoples and for our mother earth. And this is why our struggles are so intimately connected.

Another lasting impression from the Toxic Tour was the celebratory nature of the event in the face of serious environmental injustice being discussed.  There was an evident feeling of love and community that surrounded us as we acknowledged the devastating impacts of an industry and government lacking accountability for its crimes against humanity.  I’ve learned that in building a movement, we must focus on the love that connects humanity and not on the anger we feel towards institutions and the neoliberal and capitalist systems that continue to oppress, exploit and kill.  It was coming from a place of love and desire for a better world that made the Toxic Tour such a magical experience for everyone, and I hope to continue to organize from a place of love in our continued fight for environmental and climate justice.

Thanks for our amazing endorsers:

Indigenous Environmental Network; Council of Canadians; Rainforest Action Network; KAIROS; Toronto Climate Campaign; Community Solidarity Response Toronto; No One is Illegal; Greenspiration; Sierra Youth Coalition; OPIRG Toronto; Polaris Institute; TakingITGlobal; Earthroots; Toronto Bolivia Solidarity Network; Latin American Solidarity Network; Check Your Head

Some media, photos, and videos from the Toxic Tour:

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/wetsuweten-country-toronto/3744

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/g820-issues-pt-3/3749

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/g20streetlevel/2010/06/torontos-toxic-tour-1.html

http://www.canadians.org/energyblog/?p=290

http://www.demotiximages.com/news/364929/g20-toronto-toxic-tour

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/video/toxic-tour-toronto-climate-justice-march/3780

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powless/4729764756/

http://www.ourclimate.ca/wordpress/environmental-and-climate-justice-activists-take-a-toxic-tour-of-toronto-expose-canada-g8-and-g20-leaders%E2%80%99-record-on-mining-climate-and-environmental-injustice/