Environmental protester sprays pink paint on U.S. Embassy in Ottawa

The group Last Generation Canada sprayed paint on the U.S. embassy in Ottawa to protest Donald Trump and call for a national climate disaster response plan.

A protester sprayed pink paint on the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa Thursday, as part of a campaign by an environmental group calling for the creation of a “climate disaster protection agency” funded by the “ultra-rich.”

Last Generation Canada says one of its supporters spray-painted the embassy on Sussex Drive, one day after two of its members splashed pink paint on a Tesla dealership in Montreal.

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The group said one of its members was being held by staff at the U.S. Embassy. Police say a woman in her 20s was taken into custody.

“Last Generation Canada is demanding that Canada stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who are destroying democracies and spreading climate denial,” the group said in a statement. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an advisor of U.S. President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency.

“Last Generation Canada is also calling on the Canadian government to create a Climate Disaster Protection Agency to help Canadians whose homes, communities, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed by extreme weather caused by fossil fuels. The group wants the government to pay for the agency by levying punitive taxes against the ultra-rich, who are overwhelmingly responsible for the climate crisis.”

CTV News Ottawa photos showed an Ottawa police officer placing an individual in a cruiser.

Most of the paint had been spray washed off the U.S. Embassy by 12 p.m.

The Ottawa Police Service tells CTV News Ottawa officers were called to the U.S. Embassy just after 11 a.m., “to take custody of a woman in her 20s for mischief-related offences after causing damage to property.”

“As the investigation continues, further charges may be laid.”

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According to its website, Last Generation Canada is “students, teachers, parents, grandparents – we are open to anyone who wants (to) join in the campaign to demand a livable future.”

Last Generation Canada was formerly known as On2Ottawa, which held a series of protests in Ottawa in 2023 to call for a national wildfire agency. On Aug. 29, 2023, a protester splashed paint on a Tom Thomson piece hanging in the National Gallery of Canada. A climate protester also chained herself to the Prime Minister’s Office and threw pink paint onto the building.