Montreal climate protesters charged after climbing Jacques-Cartier Bridge

Two environmental activists, accused of scaling Montreal's Jacques-Cartier Bridge early Tuesday morning and bringing rush-hour traffic to a standstill, have been charged with mischief and willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

A third activist, who didn't climb the bridge, is facing a mischief charge in relation to obstructing, interrupting or interfering with the lawful use of property worth over $5,000. 

The Crown opposed their release on Wednesday for safety reasons and to maintain public confidence in the justice system. The accused remain in custody and a date will be set for their bail hearing.

The protest triggered a police operation that shut down the bridge for nearly seven hours, causing major traffic headaches as motorists were detoured to other crossings that link Montreal to its South Shore. Cyclists and pedestrians were also stopped from using the bridge Tuesday.

The groups Last Generation Canada and Antigone Collective took credit for the protest, demanding an end to fossil fuel extraction and denouncing government inaction on climate change.

The groups urged supporters to rally outside the courthouse on Wednesday.

A handful of people gathered to show support. Seph Marshall, speaking for Last Generation Canada, said his group understands people were frustrated by the protest, but they don't believe this kind of demonstration will cause backlash against their cause.

"People in Canada are frustrated about their homes burning down. People in Montreal are frustrated about their basements being flooded, and then losing their homes, and insurance not covering that," he said. 

"So we are also seeing that ordinary, regular people in Canada are also fed up with the climate inaction and how that is going to affect their lives and how it is already affecting them."

The groups are demanding that Ottawa join the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and create a national emergency management agency to respond to climate disasters.

The activists also say the federal government has failed to take any meaningful environmental action since 2019.

In a news release Wednesday afternoon, the two groups issued a joint statement, saying the charged activists are expected to stay in custody until Oct. 31.

"Continuing to extract and burn oil, gas and coal is killing people all over the world and will destroy whole nations," the news release says. "The Canadian government has failed to address the impacts of the climate crisis at just 1.5 degrees of warming."

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, himself a former environmental activist, said in a statement that he "could not disagree more."

Claiming to have launched in 2022 the most comprehensive climate plan in the country's history and to have worked on more than 100 measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country, Guilbeault said his government has invested more than $100 billion to help Canadians make the shift to electrifying transportation and making homes more energy efficient.

He said Canada's emissions are now at their lowest level in 25 years even though the economy is operating at full capacity.