RAN Toronto Crash RBC's Party.

In the evening on October 01 2009 activists with Rainforest Action Network Toronto got dressed up to the nines to protest the grand opening of the new RBC Centre (in downtown Toronto).

The Activists entered the building holding a banner, passing out flyers, and  fake company brochures about a new “green power project” to highlight RBC’s hypocritical green-washing campaign and the company’s continued financing of the Alberta Tar Sands.

Two super sneaky well dressed activists managed to evade security and make it all the way up to the swanky cocktail party on the 41st floor where they distributed the fake brochures to journalists and attendees before being escorted out by security.

The activists revealed to attendees and passers-by that the Royal Bank of Canada is the number one financier in the Tar Sands, loaning $19.5 billion to companies operating in the region since 2007 alone.

” It is incredibly hypocritical for RBC to celebrate the opening of their new “green” headquarters, at the same time as they are lending billions to companies that are responsible for one of the worst environmental crime scenes in the world, the Alberta Tar Sands,” said Maryam Adrangi, an activist with RANToronto. “RBC needs to stop their green-washing, and start showing real leadership in helping Canada meet its climate commitments.”

This is particularly prudent now, as Canada faces harsh criticism from the international community over it’s environmental track record and it’s unwillingness to budge on climate change issues in the recent UN talks€¦ so much so that PM Stephen Harper failed to show up to the negotiations in New York.

The Grand opening was aimed at drawing out environmental reporters, as the building was designed to meet new LEED NC (construction) Gold Standards. The activists emphasized that having a “green” building would not undo the damage being caused by the building’s anchor tenants, Royal Bank of Canada and RBC Dexia.

The expansion of Tar Sands extraction is devastating Alberta’s environment, contaminating Canada’s precious water supply, endangering wildlife, threatening the rights and health of First Nations communities, and single handedly preventing Canada from meeting any type of climate change commitment. RBC is the ATM for the dirty Tar Sands, and they cannot hide that fact behind their new “green” headquarters.

RBC has the opportunity to lead the country in the transition to a green economy, one where not only environmental considerations take place, but also ethical ones. So far RBC has refused to take responsibility for it’s actions in the Tar Sands and has even gone so far as to state that they will never stop financing projects in the energy/extractive industries.  Does this sound like a company that supports environmentalism and social responsibility?  The Tar Sands are the most destructive project on earth and hiding behind layers of green –washing is not going to fool the public.

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