Climate activists cut up debit cards, block traffic in downtown Victoria

Protesters cut up debit cards in downtown Victoria Environmental activists shut down a number of Victoria streets and cut up their debit cards to call attention to large banks investments.

Dozens of protesters pushing for climate action blocked traffic in downtown Victoria Thursday, protesting against five major Canadian banks, with the goal of setting a record, and sending a message.

The group Rise and Resist is encouraging people to cut up their bank cards and move their money to a credit union.

"By cutting up my bank card, I know that at least my money isn’t going into something I don’t support, and that's really powerful," said Bronwyn Churcher.

The group says TD, BMO, Scotiabank, RBC, and CIBC have invested billions of dollars in fossil fuel projects since 2016.

"I can at least take my money out of being invested into these corporations that are supporting an industry which is no longer feasible in our world today," Churcher said.

Supporters joined the protest, which shut down Douglas Street from Johnson to Humboldt streets, during their lunch hour and were seen cutting up their bank cards. The organizing group said their goal is to break a world record for the number of cut up cards.

"We're the first," said Terry Taylor, one of the event organizers. "Whatever record we set will be the record that we challenge other cities around the world to break."

The event is part of the Global Climate Strike week of action. It comes ahead of the global climate strike happening Friday, when millions of students across the world are expected to leave class in support of climate action.