Police estimate 100,000 take part in Vancouver climate strike
Credit to Author: Nick Eagland| Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 01:58:12 +0000
A climate strike organized by Metro Vancouver youth grew into the largest protest B.C. has seen in 35 years.
Police said an estimated 100,000 people joined the Global Climate Strike Vancouver on Friday, which was part of the action inspired by teen climate crusader Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement. Thunberg attended the strike in Montreal, which officials estimated drew 315,000.
In Vancouver, a mass of people large enough to fill all three major sports arenas met at city hall, where they called for government to act on climate change, before marching across the Cambie Bridge for a second rally outside the Vancouver Public Library. Many were young people who want leaders to develop a plan to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions to zero by 2050.
Millions of protesters also marched in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, India and Italy, and smaller events were held in communities across B.C., including Surrey, New Westminster and Victoria.
The Vancouver strikers brought provocative signs and joined in chants of “We want change!,” “Climate action now!,” and “You die of old age, we die of climate change!” Chief Adam Palmer of the Vancouver police said in a tweet that the crowd was “peaceful” and “thoughtful.”
Organizers had expected 15,000 people to participate. Instead, they held the largest protest since the Walk for Peace of 1984, when 115,000 marched across the Burrard Street Bridge in support of nuclear disarmament.
The Vancouver and Surrey school districts — the largest in B.C. — let students miss classes to participate. Many B.C. businesses, including Lush Cosmetics and Mountain Equipment Co-op, shut down for the day to take part in the strike.
On Sept. 20, the first day of the climate strike, hundreds of Vancouver youth joined millions around the world to protest inaction by governments to deal with greenhouse-gas emissions, and participated in a die-in to draw attention to the threat they face if those emissions aren’t drastically cut.
Naia Lee and Samantha Lin of the Sustainabiliteens were among dozens with the group that organized the Vancouver strike.
“This is a climate emergency and it’s time that everyone was aware about it, everyone made it a priority, everyone was talking about it,” said Samantha, a student at Prince of Wales Secondary in Vancouver. “We need action now and this is just calling on the government to do so.”
Naia, 16, a student at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary in Vancouver, views her generation as “a catalyst for a bigger change,” she said. “The youth are here, we’re united, we’re sharing our voices. But the reality is that without adults backing us up, we can’t solve the climate crisis.”
Holding signs in Vancouver on Friday that read “Rise up before the ocean does,” and “The planet is hotter than my boyfriend” were Nikola Toma, 13, and Aaron Albindia, 12. They took the day off from Kwantlen Park Secondary in Surrey because they’re concerned about issues such as plastic waste and rising sea temperatures.
“I have a lot of dreams and ambitions that I’d love to live out but the way the world’s going now, I can’t see many of them happening,” Nikola said. “That’s definitely a big bummer so I think we should say something.”
Alyson Dubey, 16, attended the rally with three friends from Delta Secondary.
“I have a younger little brother and I don’t want him to grow up in a world that’s not as nice and not this,” Alyson said. “This is a good world and that’s why I think we should do things to preserve it.”
Audrey Siegl of the Musqueam First Nation made opening remarks on the steps of city hall, thanking organizers and slamming Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and former prime minister Stephen Harper for their records on the environment.
Siegl said Indigenous Peoples across North America are always the first to pay the price for climate change.
“Now it’s come to the mainstream that we’re all here together in tens-of-thousands and millions around the world. To me it demonstrates that if more people stood up earlier, not only would more of our people be here but your future wouldn’t have been stolen,” Siegl said.
Meanwhile, there were two climate-change resolutions passed at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention downtown, including a resolution to call on the federal and provincial governments to take actions promoting and enabling greenhouse-gas emission reductions, and a resolution urging all levels of government to accelerate efforts to fight climate change.
Premier John Horgan didn’t participate in the climate strike but met with youth activists last week.
“I continue to engage with people all the time on these issues. We’re not just declaring emergencies, we’re taking action,” Horgan told reporters after a speech at the convention.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attended the strike in Victoria, while Trudeau and Green party Leader Elizabeth May attended the strike in Montreal. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer didn’t participate.
-With files from Jennifer Saltman, Dan Fumano and Carolyn Soltau