2022 in review

You took action for a just and sustainable future. Together, with Indigenous land defenders, climate justice activists and environmental organizations, you shut down the streets outside of RBC’s corporate HQ and showed up outside 34 local branches to call out RBC for being Canada’s biggest bankroller of fossil fuels. And we didn’t only show up in person. Over 1,200 of you emailed RBC CEO Dave McKay and with thousands of tweets, we got #RBCIsKillingMe and #NoMoreDirtyBanks trending on Twitter!

With a powerful coalition of allies, you fought back against the Trans Mountain (TMX) pipeline and went after their insurers. And, the good news? TMX insurers are dropping like flies. You also helped crowdfund a powerful projection against a mountainside in Norway on the day of Norwegian-based Equinor’s AGM — to demand they hit the brakes on the mega Bay Du Nord oil-drilling project.

Leadnow volunteers in cities from coast to coast hit the streets to distribute our newspaper, “The People’s Just Transition”. These newspapers mimicked any other daily newspaper, but with a twist: they reported on the climate crisis seriously filling the gap left by our media to share the unvarnished truth about the climate crisis; calling out the politicians and fossil fuel companies who are holding back action to address it.

Now, with our amazing volunteers, we’re holding meetings with MPs in key target ridings across the country to call for a strong cap on polluting emissions from the oil and gas industry.

You fought for a fairer economy. Skyrocketing bills, rising grocery costs and outrageous rent increases are all adding up to an impossible situation for thousands of people across the country. But while we struggle, grocery stores and fossil fuel corporations are raking in billions in record-breaking profits. The mega-rich are getting richer while life gets costlier for the rest of us.

Over 50,000 of you signed the petition for a wealth tax — calling on Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland to tax the rich. Together, we crowdfunded a mobile billboard to take the message right to her riding. Asarial, it was seen by tens of thousands of people in her riding. We even drove it right past her office to make your message impossible to ignore.

Earlier this year, the so-called ‘freedom convoy’ took to the streets of Ottawa under the pretense of protesting vaccine mandates. But in reality, it was led by members of Canada’s far-right — attempting to suck in workers who are feeling shut out of a system that has been rigged in favour of the wealthy for decades and using protest as a cover for harassment, intimidation, and racist abuse. Many of us were trying to make sense of what was happening. So when we invited you to the Power in Relationships training webinar, over 1000 of you attended to discuss tools and techniques needed to engage and counter disinformation and radicalization in our personal networks.

And when the far-right targeted the Senate to block them from debating basic income — a common-sense solution to make sure everyone can meet their needs — you helped launch a rapid-response ad campaign to push back.