This is saddening to see. Alberta is the Texas of Canada.
By Danielle Wallace,
A newly painted mural of 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was vandalized in Canada with a pro-oil message, and later with French slurs.
Thunberg on Friday lead a climate strike outside the Alberta legislature in the province’s capital city of Edmonton. The Province newspaper reported about 8,000 were in attendance.
Local artist AJA Louden told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that he painted the mural on a free expression graffiti wall across the city at the same Thunberg spoke. While the CBC was filming footage of the mural Friday, James Bagnell sprayed “Stop the Lies. This is Oil Country!!!” over the image of the teenager’s face.
“This is Alberta. This is oil country. My father has worked in the oil industry. We don’t need foreigners coming in and telling us how to run our business, support our families, put food on our tables,” he told the CBC.
“I think it’s absolutely intolerant of them to tell us how to change our lives and our people. She should go back to her country and try to make her country better,” he continued. Bagnell also said Thunberg was just “doing what she’s told,” and should “just shut up until you have solutions.”