Today more than 170 people rallied outside of the Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC’s) Annual General Shareholder meeting (AGM) in Toronto after a series of creative non-violent actions all morning. Inside, First Nations Chiefs and community representatives from four different Nations demanded RBC phase out of its Tar Sands financing and to recognize [...]

After a year of campaigning, this afternoon RBC and RAN finally sat opposite the same table to talk tar sands (here’s the background for those just tuning in). In RBC’s corner was COO Barbara Stymiest joined by Sandra Odendahl and Shari Austin. We correspond with Sandra and Shari pretty regularly.  Barbara was a new contact. She’s [...]

On Saturday February 13th at 3:00 p.m. dozens rallied outside of RBC’s main branch in Vancouver (1025 West Georgia St) to protest the Olympic sponsor’s record as the top financier of the Alberta tar sands, an affront to Indigenous rights and the nation’s fastest growing source of water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  This rally [...]

I just finished spending two weeks with some of my favorite organizers in Toronto. In the midst of strategizing to have an impactful presence at the Royal Bank of Canada’s Annual General Shareholder’s meeting (AGM), we went on a training tour to reach out communities all over Ontario. The response has been tremendous. RAN Toronto led [...]

In the last couple of weeks a slew of articles have come out announcing last year’s earnings for some of our favorite CEO’s. • JP Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon received a bonus of over $16 million ; • General Mills Inc. chairman and CEO Ken Powell received $13.4 million in compensation, up 105 percent from $6.5 million in [...]

After more than a year of denial, RBC may be admitting that it has a problem in the tar sands. Tomorrow, we’ve learned that RBC will host a group of more than a dozen international banks for what it calls a “day of learning”. The meeting comes just eight weeks after our letter to 68 [...]

As an ode to the  “rank ‘em and spank ‘em” strategy coined by our outgoing Executive Director Mike Brune, we proudly present the following roster of international banks backing expansion in the tar sands. The table below is based on credit extended underwritten by each bank to companies operating in the tar sands since 2007 according [...]

Tar Sands Financing Causes Global Embarrassment for Nation’s Largest Bank It isn’t often that Rainforest Action Network heads to Davos for the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF). But that’s just what our tar sands campaigner, Brant Olson, is doing. Why? Because as world leaders gather at Davos today to discuss the year’s economic fortunes, [...]

An article from Patricia Best in this week’s Macleans magazine offers a peek into how RBC is responding to RAN’s campaign. Here’s a peek into how RAN is responding to RBC. But first a note to set the record straight. RBC Spokeswoman Katherine Gay claims in the Macleans article that our research into RBC financing activity [...]

As negotiations wrapped up in Barcelona at the UN Climate Talks, the opportunity for a robust agreement to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD) is dangling from a wire. The latest negotiating text, which parties will be working on at the opening of the Copenhagen UNFCCC COP15, contains no provisions to [...]