Montreal’s morning rush hour was plunged into chaos early Tuesday after two demonstrators shut down the Jacques Cartier Bridge in both directions by climbing the span.
The Sûreté du Québec posted on X just after noon that the bridge was reopened to traffic. Two activists have been arrested and will be questioned by the SQ.
A spokesperson for the Montreal fire department had confirmed about an hour earlier that the activists were climbing down the bridge themselves. She said firefighters were on the scene, with at least one on the structure, but that the Sûreté du Québec was leading the response.
Jacob Piro, 24, from Last Generation Canada and Olivier Huard, 47, of Collectif Antigone had climbed the bridge, said Gillian Graham, a Last Generation Canada spokesperson.
Quebec Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel was quick to condemn the activists, who he labelled “extremists.” Writing on X, he said the action was “a selfish way of attracting attention and shows only a great lack of judgment and respect for Quebecers.”
While authorities were initially able to keep the Montreal-bound lanes of the bridge open to traffic, they were quickly obliged to close the span in both directions.
According to the environmental activist group Collectif Antigone, which says its members include “experienced activist climbers,” the protesters began their ascent of the span linking Montreal and South Shore Longueuil around 5 a.m.
Graham said the action was necessary given what she called a lack of government action on climate change.
“How many more towns have to burn down, have to flood, before our government does anything? Olivier and Jacob are now on the bridge and they are doing everything in their power, as normal people to try to get a response from the government,” she said.
Last Generation is calling on the federal government to sign the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls for an end to the expansion of fossil fuel extraction. The activist group is also asking for a national emergency agency tasked with responding to wildfires, flooding and other climate-related disasters.
Collectif Antigone claims on its Facebook page that a similar action had been taken in 2019 to protest against federal government inaction on climate change. The group argues that in the five years since then, the climate emergency has become more acute, yet Ottawa has done nothing to reverse the trend.
The Sûreté du Québec urged motorists to avoid the area.
Photos from Last Generation Canada show activists unfurling banners reading “Close the pipeline” and “Fossil fuel treaty now.”
Within minutes of the bridge’s shutdown, traffic began to stack up on alternative routes as far west as the Mercier Bridge.
“Last Generation Canada does not like disrupting everyday people,” Graham said, but “the people up on that bridge right now are ordinary people and the people supporting them are ordinary people and the people that lost their homes in Jasper (to a wildfire) are ordinary people.”
The demonstrators “are safe, they’re making sure everyone else is safe,” she said.
Graham said they were also aware of and willing to risk potential legal consequences.
“The risk of inaction is far greater than the risk of action.”
On Oct. 8, 2019, three members of Extinction Rebellion climbed the Jacques Cartier Bridge and forced the shutdown of the span for an hour. The trio were later arrested by police.
Presse Canadienne contributed to this report.
This story will be updated.