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Three Extinction Rebellion protesters were arrested October 8, 2019 after climbing the Jacques Cartier bridge in Montreal to decry climate inaction, police said. More protests disrupted traffic in Quebec City on Saturday.SEBASTIEN ST-JEAN/AFP/Getty Images

Climate activists who scaled a Montreal bridge and overtook a downtown street last week are continuing their protests in the province this weekend, holding up traffic in Quebec City and Sherbrooke Saturday with so-called “slow swarms.”

The Quebec chapter of the group known as Extinction Rebellion raised banners and flags at pedestrian crossings, aiming to “sensitize” drivers and pedestrians to the urgency of climate change.

The group says the actions — part of a week-long series of protests — are “legal and will not cause any inconvenience.”

Organizer Anne Rufiange tells The Canadian Press that she and others have been “treated like a bunch of extremists,” but that “the science tells us the situation is extreme.”

After three people were arrested for climbing up Montreal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge on Tuesday morning, another 41 demonstrators were detained for blocking a downtown street late in the day.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault called the bridge demonstration “an illegal gesture.” But the week of protest is slated to continue Sunday with a die-in near the McGill subway station.

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