Protesters disrupt Question Period

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/716324--protesters-disrupt-commons-question-period?bn=1

I had received a pass to enter Question Period this afternoon from my MP, and was watching for the first time the heckling and the yelling that defines the session when suddenly a yell was heard from the general public gallery.

Quickly one lone protester turned into several, as dozens of people were yelling "climate justice now", "sign bill c311" as they were being dragged out. Soon enough, the entire one side of the public gallery were being evacuated as the roars and the yells stopped Question Period and left Jack Layton hanging in the middle of his own question on pensions. 

As far as I'm concerned the protests were not organized ahead of time by any particular group - there were a lot of attendees from the weekend's Powershift conference in attendance at Question Period, and I think the momentum must have caught up with them in their passionate pleas for climate action.

I was watching Minister of Environment Jim Prentice the whole time who remained stone-faced and did not look up at the gallery. He later addressed a question posed by NDP environment critic Linda Duncan about the bill, and argued that the Conservatives were doing their part to combat climate change including putting forth a continental cap and trade system.