How the climate protest on the Hill unfolded

Security guards remove a protester from the rotunda of the Centre Block of Parliament Hill, Tuesday. (CBC) From our colleague Allie Elwell in Ottawa:

"It was just like any day on Parliament Hill. Ministers, MPs, staffers and journalists began their usual trickling into the House for a day of Parliamentary business.

CBC reporter Julie Van Dusen was in the Foyer of the House of Commons, ready for her 11 a.m. hit on the extension of the Afghan mission, when all of a sudden a commotion rose up.

It sounded like a group of high school kids getting a bit too rowdy.

And then we heard "Climate justice now! Climate justice now!"

A group of six young women were being dragged out of the Rotunda, through the hallway pass all the prime ministers' portraits and down the cabinet stairs.

"Climate justice now!" they screamed despite knowing their game was over.

The few journalists on the Hill scrambled to get whatever shots they could before they were brought to one of the tour rooms, the door slammed shut behind them.   

What was going on?

It turns out the action was organized by a local group called Ottawa Climate Justice. The women sat in a circle inside the main entrance, holding their demands in the hands, and crying out for justice on climate change. Eventually a supportive, albeit small, crowd of about 20 protesters joined them outside on the steps of Parliament Hill.

They wanted to draw attention to their list of five demands for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, a follow-up to last year's highly publicized Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Shut down the tar sands, invest in community solutions and stopping tax breaks for oil companies are at the top of their list.

It's not the first climate protest on Parliament Hill. Last year a group of youth climate activists were arrested for causing a disturbance inside the House of Commons Chamber. Greenpeace also made headlines by scaling the roof of West Block and hanging a banner.

But, according to one of the security guards, it's the first time he's seen a sit-in like this in his nine years on the Hill."