Over the weekend, thousands of activists mobilized across Canada to engage in a number of direct actions calling for climate justice, jobs and an end to tar sands mining.

The environmental group 350.org, which supported the nationwide mobilizations, said that the coast-to-coast actions demonstrate that citizens “care about their communities, and that we are ready to stop digging, start building and move beyond the tar sands.”

On Friday, students led sit-ins across the country. On Saturday, “We > Tar Sands” rallies we mounted. And on Sunday, activists participated in the March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate in Toronto.

The #JobsJusticeClimate actions included the formation of a giant human chain on the sea wall at Vancouver’s Sunset Beach, a flotilla of boats — including a solar-powered catamaran — touring the Salish Sea in British Columbia, as well as musical performances, poetry readings and speakers discussing jobs, unions and front line resistance to support climate action.
“This mobilization brought together a truly diverse coalition, from frontline indigenous communities to Canada’s largest public and private sector unions, students, social justice organizations and grassroots groups mobilizing against destructive industries,” said 350.org about Saturday’s march in Toronto.

On Sunday, actress and activist Jane Fonda, environmentalist and scientist David Suzuki and author and social activist Naomi Klein joined Labour groups, First Nations leaders and hundreds of people outside Ontario’s legislative buildings for a rally and march calling for a green economy and climate action.