Thousands turn out to push for action on climate change

From St. John’s to Vancouver, and as far north as Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, tens of thousands of Canadians came out in force as part in a massive push for action on climate change.

They came in strollers and on skateboards, on bikes and in army boots, wearing knee braces and leaning on crutches and canes. From babies to baby boomers, grandkids to grandparents, they filled parks and the lawns of legislatures and Parliament, toting papier-mache Earths and trees, some with full potted plants on their backs.

Their message was clear: bolder action is urgently needed to save the planet from the crisis of climate change.

In Halifax, several thousand people marched through the streets and ended their protest at the headquarters of Nova Scotia Power. In Toronto, thousands more filled the front lawn of the provincial legislature and the streets around it.

In Ottawa, the crowd size exceeded most Canada Day celebrations, filling the streets for more than a dozen city blocks as the marchers wound their way through downtown from city hall to Parliament Hill. Some added a truly Canadian flavour by putting their placards on hockey sticks and insisting their chants be delivered in both official languages.

In Ottawa, one demonstrator hoisted a placard that reads “I’m sure the dinosaurs thought they had time too,” while another called for politicians to “Make Canada cold again.”

A protester in Toronto carried one with an image of the Earth engulfed in flames and the message “There is no Planet B.”

A group of young women in Montreal carried a sign that said, “We are skipping our lessons to teach you one.”

In Halifax, someone held one that said, “The Earth should not be hotter than Harry Styles,” referring to the English pop star.

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist, says the nasty backlash she has faced from some leaders is proof positive her message is getting across.

Thunberg has been mocked and ridiculed by some of the world’s most powerful people, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who dismiss her calls to climate action as the musings of a silly schoolgirl. In Canada, People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier called her a mentally ill pawn of adults.

But if adults are mocking children, they must be feeling the heat, Thunberg said during a news conference in Montreal where she continued to be the focal point of a massive, international day of action.

“I don’t understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead,” she said.

“But I guess they must feel like their worldview or their interests or whatever it is, is threatened by us. We should take as a compliment that we are having so much impact that people want to silence us. We’ve become too loud for people to handle so they try to silence us.”

Many of those who came out called Thunberg their inspiration.

“I think she has revolutionized how we look at activism,” said Pascal Morimanno, a 17-year-old marching in Fredericton. “She is one person but there are millions of youth out here now because of her. She is the face of new activism.”