Hundreds of people from across North America gathered on Parliament Hill for a rally followed by a mass civil disobedience sit-in. Participants are delivering a resounding message to Harper: "We want to build a green energy future that respects Indigenous rights and prioritizes the health of our environment and communities."

For more photos see the Tar Sands Action flickr site.

 George Poitras, Mikisew Cree First Nation

Monday, September 26th is a day of action across Canada as activists take to the streets in Vancouver, Toronto, and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

If you can't make it out to the streets, follow our updates on Twitter: we'll be tweeting updates from the actions

Stop the Tar Sands: Direct action on Parliament Hill

There was much back and forth Wednesday in Question Period on the Canadian Environment Department's plans to cut ozone monitoring. Peter Kent, the Minister of the Environment, argued that the monitoring will continue, but will merely be carried out more efficiently. He did not say how that would be done.

The fact is that Canadian, British, Swiss and German scientists had earlier been told, "informally", that a network of 17 direct observation stations, throughout Canada, will be closed. There will be no more so-called "in situ" measurements -- that is measurements from ground stations. In the future, all measurements will be conducted by satellite.

A large crowd gathered on Parliament Hill Monday to remember and demand justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women at the conclusion of the 4th annual cross-country Walk 4 Justice.

Walk4Justice is a grassroots-funded, nonprofit organization that was created in January 2008. Gladys Radek and Bernie Williams co-founded this group to raise awareness about the plight of the far too many missing and murdered women across Canada. Their supporters consist of family members from across the country who have lost loved ones: "grassroots women and men from all walks of life have joined us in our efforts to demand justice, closure, equality and accountability," explains their website.