The activists who climbed the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in Montreal on October 22 are partly financed by wealthy Americans who provide funds to radical groups in several countries around the world.
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Activists Olivier Huard and Jacob Pirro, who joined the structure, made sure they had a “legal budget” before making their coup. In other words, enough to pay their lawyer after their arrest.
According to our information, these funds were provided by Last Generation Canada, the activist group to which we owe, among other things, the blockade of the Montreal-Trudeau airport last summer.
On its website, Last Generation Canada claims to receive money from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF). This non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Beverly Hills, California, was founded in 2019 by Rory Kennedy and Aileen Getty, wealthy heiresses of the famous families of the same name.
Famous donors
Donors to CEF include Oscar-winning director Adam McKay, behind the climate satire Don’t look up: Cosmic denial. He had offered $4 million to the NGO in 2022.
We also find actor Jeremy Strong, from the saga SuccessionAbigail Disney, heir to the family of the same name, and the foundation of singer Barbra Streisand.
Adam McKay, who sits on the CEF board of directors, also made a personal donation of $2,500 to contribute to the legal defense of the activists who scaled the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.
CEF has significant financial resources. The organization paid its executive director, Margaret Klein Salamon, a salary of US$165,000 in 2023.
The organization has redistributed more than $17 million in the United States, Europe and Canada since its founding, and claims to have helped train more than 100,000 activists around the world.
-Money on the Internet
“I’d be lying if I said I’m 100% comfortable with [le financement du CEF]admits Jacob Pirro in an interview.
According to him, CEF provided them with approximately $10,000 in 2024, and the majority of Last Generation Canada funds now come from popular funding.
Moreover, on the Chuffed platform, a crowdfunding campaign has already raised $30,000 in one year.
Following the Jacques-Cartier Bridge action, activists also collected nearly $15,000 in donations on the same platform to pay their legal costs.
For its part, the Antigone Collective, which also participated in the organization of the October 22 coup, is solely supported by popular donations.
Antigone, for example, received $300 from the Teachers’ Union of the Cégep du Vieux Montréal, after the bridge scandal.
“Bad at financing”
“We are very bad at financing, honestly. It’s really a chance that we are able to come across donations,” says Olivier Huard.
Blocking Valero cost them $30,000 “just in materials,” says the activist. Thanks to an anonymous donation of $10,000, they, among other things, purchased a container to block the entrance to the site and thus prevent the firefighters from coming to dislodge them.
Olivier Huard and his colleagues sometimes receive small salaries for training given to other activist groups. This money is often given to the Collective for carrying out an action.
Lawyers and experts who work on their legal defense sometimes agree to reduce their salary or pro goodo, specifies Mr. Huard.
A network of disobedience
Last Generation Canada, which financed the Jacques Cartier Bridge stunt, is part of the A22 Network, which brings together groups that carry out non-violent civil disobedience around the world, including Just Stop Oil. This organization has often made headlines in recent years for disturbing actions, such as dousing a Vincent Van Gogh painting in a London museum with soup in 2022. The work was covered with protective glass. Only the frame was damaged. Both activists were recently sentenced to prison for this action.
