Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Demonstrators gathered in 40 locations across Canada on Saturday to voice their opposition to the Royal Bank of Canada's funding of fossil fuel projects.
The protests, part of a nation-wide effort dubbed Fossil Fools Day, unfolded in cities including Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax and Vancouver.
One protester said the demonstrations were intended to raise awareness of the bank's looming Annual General Meeting, scheduled to take place in Saskatoon on April 5.
Eve Saint, a Wet'suwet'en land defender and daughter of hereditary Chief Woos who spoke at the Toronto protest, said a Wet'suwet'en delegation is heading to the AGM intent on getting answers from RBC president and CEO Dave McKay. "We are going down a very scary path," Saint said in an interview following her remarks at Saturday's protest, citing extreme weather events such as flooding and fires as examples of the effects of the climate crisis.
"The time is now," she said.
The bank, for its part, has long stressed the importance of an orderly transition to net-zero financed emissions, previously announcing it hoped to reach that goal in 2050 and setting a smaller, interim target for 2030.
RBC spokesperson Jeff Lanthier said the company is focusing its attention on where it will have the biggest impact, which is helping clients reduce their emissions and supporting initiatives that bring green solutions to market.
"We are committed to achieving net-zero in our lending by 2050 and have established interim emissions reduction targets that will help us drive action and measure progress," he said in an email. "These targets are informed by science and reflect a measured and deliberate approach to climate action."
But critics say the bank's targets fall far short of what's needed, accusing the company of "greenwashing" last fall when it announced its goals for this decade.
While RBC's financing of fossil fuel projects overall has been the subject of much criticism, one of the core issues for Saint and others is the bank's funding of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
The 670-kilometre project, which is currently under construction and runs through Wet'suwet'en traditional territory in British Columbia, has been the focus of ongoing demonstrations and arrests. Hereditary chiefs oppose the pipeline, while the elected council of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation and others nearby have agreed to support it.
Saint said she wants to see RBC divest from CGL and other such projects, as well as sit down with the Wet'suwet'en.
She is also part of a small group that put forward a complaint to the Competition Bureau about RBC's environmental claims and marketing. The bureau launched an inquiry into the bank as a result of the complaint.
RBC has also funded the Trans Mountain pipeline, the estimated costs of which have ballooned recently to $30.9 billion.
The estimated cost of CGL has also grown to $14.5 billion.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2023.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.