THUNDER BAY — As the new school year gets underway, waves of new students are welcomed to post-secondary campuses across the country with social justice clubs, fundraisers, and more vying for attention to garner support for various causes.
Climate Justice Lakehead is one of those groups, currently working to get students on board with a campaign to remove RBC location from the Lakehead University campus.
The group is part of a national campaign to get RBC locations off of campus because of the bank's continued support of fossil fuel expansion and alleged violations of Indigenous rights.
Rachel Portinga, one of the organizers of Climate Justice Lakehead, cited those as some of the main reasons the group wants the bank gone.
"We're asking that Lakehead University's administrators, board of governors, and student union reconsider their relationship with RBC and make the transition into banking with a local credit union instead of one of the big five banks in Canada," she said.
Portinga noted the university followed through on a commitment to divest from fossil fuels itself, calling the RBC campaign a logical next step.
"RBC is the number one funder of fossil fuels in the world, not just in Canada – in the world. By no longer having RBC, no longer banking with RBC, no longer having an RBC branch on campus, then we are not supporting [them]. RBC loses its ability to fund fossil fuel projects."
Portinga also wants the school to bar RBC, and all of Canada's largest five banks, from sponsoring , hosting or co-hosting events associated with the university.
The group set up an information booth in the Agora on Tuesday, hoping to reach new students, staff and others who didn't know about the bank's connections to fossil fuel entities.
The group will also be looking to make their case to the school's administration, board of governors, and student union leaders.
Seven campuses across Canada were protesting Tuesday on the subject, including three locations in British Columbia, Toronto and Guelph.
The hashtag #RBCOffCampus is being used to tie their social media presence together.
