Three-year-old Adelaide Banman was one of the youngest protesters in attendance (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Calling for action

Climate strike in P.A.

Sep 27, 2019 | 5:16 PM

Nearly 100 people braved the cold and gathered at P.A. City Hall on Friday to call for immediate action on climate change.

The local rally was one of many held across Canada, part of a youth led movement pressuring governments and corporations to cut emissions and end the global dependence on fossil fuels.

Organizers from the Council of Canadians’ P.A. chapter and local group Renewable Power Intelligent Choices began the rally by highlighting the work of young environmentalists Greta Thunberg and Autumn Pelletier. Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish activist who has become a leading voice in the movement, was at a rally in Montreal on Friday. Fifteen-year-old Peltier, chief water commissioner for Anishinabek Nation was in New York preparing to address the Global Landscapes Forum at the UN headquarters on Saturday.

Several demonstraters brought signs (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW staff)

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“We can transform our societies and economies. We have that power but we must make choices, choices far different from those we are making today,” Nancy Carswell told the crowd.

She emphasized the need to end our reliance on from fossil fuels and called for a fundamental restructuring of the economy.

While attendance at P.A.’s rally may have skewed older than larger rallies in major cities, environmentalists of all ages were represented, from preschoolers to grandparents. Organizers supplied neon paper for demonstrators to create signs using their favorite slogans, while other participants brought their own.

Nancy Carswell speaks to the crowd while Liberal candidate Estelle Hjertaas (left) looks on (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW staff)

Just one month before the federal election, two P.A. candidates were in attendance.

“[I came] to support climate strikers,” New Democrat Harmony Johnson-Harder told paNOW. “The NDP has a really bold plan on climate change and addressing the issues around climate change and it’s really important that we’re here to hear it and we know that we’re on the right track.”

Liberal Estelle Hjertaas said as a former environmental lawyer the climate change is a priority for her.

“We are taking climate change extremely seriously, we are the first government to put in a serious plan to take action on climate change, including carbon pricing but not limited to that,” she said.

Conservative Randy Hoback and People’s Party of Canada candidate Kelly Day were not in attendance.

Climate striker, Craig Ballantyne (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom