STRIKING BACK OVER CLIMATE
Marches draw thousands
Kegsy Akiwenzie-Damm was among thousands of people who flooded downtown Ottawa on Friday, bringing both urgency and clarity to the issue of global warming.
“I can have an amazing future if we stop pollution and we stop climate change,” the 10-year-old said. “Right?”
The Ottawa “climate strike” was part of a global series of marches to demand action on climate change.
The crowd was dominated by young people, who were quick to point out they were the ones who would inherit the environmental disaster created by grown-ups.
“We want to give the message that we have to do something now, or it will be too late,” said Chloe Picknell, 10, who travelled with a group of three families from Navan for the strike. Marchers gathered in Hull and at Confederation Park, then converged on Parliament Hill.
Many children marched with their parents.
Sophie Lepine, marching with her daughter, Jana, carried a sign saying, “We did this to our kids. Shame on us.”
“I’m here because that’s the truth,” Lepine said. “We did do this to our children. We ruined the planet for them, their future. It’s up to us to fix it for them.”
It’s hard not to notice the effects of global warming, from floods to fires and tornadoes, Lepine said. “We need to act now, before it’s too late.”
Stewart Elgie said he wanted his twin seven-year-old boys to know they can help make changes.
“I don’t want my kids to feel helpless that we are destroying the world. I want my guys to understand the problem, but also to know you can do something about it.”
Ottawa’s largest school board, Algonquin College and the University of Ottawa all gave partial blessings to students who skipped classes Friday to take part in the climate strike.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said students would not be penalized for leaving school and teachers were asked to “be cognizant of scheduling any major assessments on Sept. 27.”
“We want our students to become global citizens who model ethical leadership and are ready to find innovative solutions to tackle the problems of tomorrow,” the board said in a statement.
The University of Ottawa encouraged students to participate, although classes were held as usual. “The University of Ottawa stands in solidarity with this global student-led movement,” the university said in a statement. “uOttawa supports student engagement in the democratic process as well as evidence-based policy-making. We understand that urgent steps must be taken to reduce global carbon emissions to ensure a secure future for today ’s young people, as there is overwhelming scientific evidence that anthropocentric climate-change is a reality and that without real change it is only going to worsen.”
Marchers filled the lawn on Parliament Hill and adjoining Wellington Street. They carried clever, heartfelt homemade signs: There is no Planet B. We are Skipping our Lessons so we Can Teach You One. Stop Burning Fuels or we will all be Fossils.
Many were inspired by Greta Thunberg, the fierce 16-year-old Swede who helped ignite the global climate-strike movement. Thunberg led a march in Montreal on Friday that attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
A year ago, Thunberg sat by herself protesting outside the Swedish Parliament, saying there was no point in going to school when the planet was in peril.
Today Thunberg is a global environmental superstar and an inspiration to young people.
She makes impassioned speeches to world leaders, asking why they are conducting business as usual in the face of a global warming catastrophe. “I don’t want your hope,” she told the World Economic Forum in Davos in a speech earlier this year. “I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is.”
“She is so brave, she is so passionate,” said Ottawa marcher Eliana Gold, 13, who was holding a sign saying, Our Planet is on Fire. Gold left class at Fisher Park Public School with a half-dozen friends in Grade 8 and travelled on the LRT system to the march.
Sonya Pascoli, 13, echoed the fears of many of the children interviewed in the crowd. “I just want to do something about climate change.
“I’m scared for our future, that if we have kids they’ll probably die from climate change. There’s no point in me going to school today if I have no future.”
Organizers of the global marches called for a quick transition away from the fossil fuels creating greenhouse gases and warming the planet. Climate strikes were planned in 150 countries in the eight days ending Friday.
We did do this to our children. We ruined the planet for them, their future. It’s up to us to fix it for them.