A shouting match between RBC Royal Bank customers and demonstrators at the bank's Brooks Landing location on Thursday, April 7. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

active demonstration

VIDEO: Protesters chain shut, superglue themselves to Nanaimo RBC branch

Apr 7, 2022 | 9:45 AM

NANAIMO — Environmental protesters escalated their demonstrations in the city.

Around a dozen demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion (XR) Nanaimo descended on the RBC Royal Bank branch at Brooks Landing around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Apr. 7, gluing themselves to the main entrance door.

XR Nanaimo claims the protest will “foil the colonial bank conspiracy masterminded by RBC Bank of Canada CEO David L. Mackay, from completing the Coastal GasLink pipeline on unceded, unsurrendered Wet’suwet’en territory,” according to a statement.

Demonstrators were on scene around 9 a.m., preparing at the back of the Brooks Landing parking lot near the end of Highland Blvd.

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Two members of the group then chained the doors of the branch closed at 9:30 a.m. and glued their hands to the metal door handles. Some staff were already inside, then closed and locked interior doors.

Several bank patrons attempted to enter the branch but were turned away with protesters pleading their cause.

Nanaimo RCMP officers arrived on scene around 9:50 a.m..

Amid the disruption, the bank opened a half hour late at about 10 a.m. with police escorting customers inside. Demonstrators remained superglued outside the front entrance.

Two people were arrested by officers.

Around a dozen protesters forcibly closed the RBC branch at Brooks Landing on Thursday, April 7, calling for an end to the bank’s participation in the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The move comes after a renewal of highway disruptions in Nanaimo on Monday, April 4 where protesters first blocked Hwy. 1 at Milton St., before being dispursed by Nanaimo RCMP.

A second demonstration was held, briefly, a couple of hours later at the Comox Rd. and Terminal Ave. intersection.

It was the first highway disruptions from the group in Nanaimo since a month-long campaign ended in early February.

The group’s primary demands are related to the protection of old-growth forests and what they claim is government inaction on protecting remaining trees from logging.

Further demonstrations at points along Hwy. 1 in Nanaimo are expected Friday, April 8.

According to the group, two members are participating in a hunger strike in a bid to lure B.C. forests minister Katrine Conroy to the negotiation table.

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