British police on Thursday arrested three environmental activists after they staged a protest against the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Houses of Parliament.
“They were arrested inside parliament premises and we are investigating reports that they reached the roof” of the Palace of Westminster, said a police spokesman.
Environmentalists are opposed to Canada’s energy policy, in particular the development of their energy-hungry tar sands.
Harper had lunch with British counterpart David Cameron after addressing both houses of parliament, a rare privilege for a foreign leader.
“We have entered parliament to interrupt Harper’s speech,” members of the “Love Hate Canada tar sands” group wrote on their website.
“We have managed to climb onto the roof with T-shirts saying ‘oil out of politics’, ‘stop Harper’ and ‘stop the tar sands’,” they added.
The group also claimed that “two campaigners spilled molasses on the floor outside of parliament”.
“Harper should be shamed internationally but he is instead invited to address both houses of parliament,” said the group.
“Harper has taken Canada down a dangerous climate path, destroyed whole ecosystems and overriding centuries-old treaty rights,” it added.
Harper’s speech focused on a free-trade pact between Canada and the European Union, which also formed the basis of talks between the two leaders.
Environmentalists target Canada's Harper in London protest
