Last week, Indigenous land defenders, students, parents and other allies came together for another year in an inspiring show of resistance at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Bank of Montreal (BMO) Annual General Meetings!
Why Bank AGMs?
RBC and BMO are both top global financiers of fossil fuel projects that lack free, prior and informed consent, violate Indigenous sovereignty and rights, and pollute the lands and waters of Indigenous communities across Turtle Island and beyond.
This is the 4th year that the Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous and frontline communities have confronted RBC at their shareholder meeting, and their first year showing up at BMO’s AGM to hold another major fossil fuel financier accountable. Delegation members asked hard-hitting questions about whether banks would commit to not funding destructive fossil fuel projects, implement policies for free, prior and informed consent, and provide greater transparency about financing decisions to the public, forcing the CEOs to reveal their lack of commitment to their own net-zero and ethical financing policies.
Pushing back against LNG and Fossil Fuel Financing
A big focus this year was on pushing back against Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) expansion on the unceded territories of the Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan and Gitanyow nations. Not only do these projects face massive opposition from Indigenous communities who are fighting to protect their lands, waters, way of life, and a safe future for all of us, they’re also climate disasters in the making that pose major financial and reputational risks. Recent research shows that the lifecycle emissions of LNG projects actually exceed the emissions of coal, disproving the greenwashing claim that LNG is a “transition fuel” to a low-carbon future. Meanwhile, with rising costs of LNG production in Canada and uncertain global demand, these projects risk becoming stranded assets, hurting workers and communities dependent on them. Investing in rights-violating, carbon-intensive projects is a short-sighted investment in a dangerous status quo, and it was incredible to watch land defenders do the critical work of holding financiers accountable on behalf of all of us.
Both Dave McKay of RBC and Darryl White of BMO refused to speak about particular projects during the meetings, but it’s clear that the work of Indigenous and frontline communities is moving the needle on support for these projects and undermining banks’ cozy relationship with oil and gas. This year again, shareholder proposals that demanded greater climate accountability increased their share of the vote, despite executives encouraging shareholders to vote against them.
Telling BMO to drop CAPP and clean up their act!
For Our Kids also took action with Greenpeace last week to air BMO’s dirty (oily!) laundry, and demand they drop their sponsorship of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ (CAPP) annual symposium. BMO says it wants to “boldly grow the good,” but it’s the 18th biggest financier of fossil fuels worldwide, and has the worst ratio of clean to dirty energy investing of all the Canadian banks. Plus, it’s happy to support CAPP – an organization known to greenwash the oil and gas industry’s activities and fight against critical climate policy like the emissions cap and anti-greenwashing legislation. In fact, CAPP has been ranked the 5th worst industry association globally for obstructing progress on climate!
Check out our member Kate Mills talking about why BMO's support of CAPP is such a problem.
At BMO’s AGM, I was able to raise this concern directly with the CEO on behalf of parents and demand BMO drop CAPP to show it actually cares about a sustainable, inclusive future. As I put it, “associating with CAPP has deeply damaged BMO’s credibility with parents across the country.”
I tried to appeal to Darryl White and the board as fellow parents: “We’re asking you to act as parents truly invested in a livable future for our kids. This means investing in real climate solutions, rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels, implementing free, prior and informed consent, and, as a first signal, dropping your sponsorship of CAPP.”
BMO has agreed to meet with us again, so we’ll be sure to report back on our progress. In the meantime, you can send a letter to BMO telling them to drop CAPP now.
As always, it was an energizing, inspiring week of learning and relationship building, and a reminder of how we need to show up in solidarity with Indigenous and frontline communities who are leading this essential fight for justice and a safe, livable future for everyone.
Learn more and take action!
If you want to learn more about the LNG projects that Indigenous communities are resisting, check out these amazing teach-in materials put together by our partners, and let us know if you want to host a screening of the powerful documentary Yintah in your community, which explores Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. If you’re part of a community group, faith group or other institution looking to take action, you can also sign on to this open letter, or send in your own letter to financiers demanding they stay away from LNG!
