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Thousands of banner- and placard-waving protesters urging action on climate change slowly marched to Parliament Hill from Ottawa City Hall Sunday.
From grandparents to parents with toddlers, many wore green clothing and hats, and numerous other green adornments, making the event reminiscent of a well-ordered St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The “100% Possible March for Climate Change Solutions and Justice” was organized by a coalition of business, First Nations, labour and environmental groups, and timed to coincide with the meeting of world leaders at this week’s climate change conference in Paris.
Organizers and supporters say a 100-per-cent clean economy by 2050 is the only way to solve “the climate crisis”.
“There’s no such thing as a Planet B,” quipped one.
Sym Gill from Toronto, one of many grandparents on the march, carried a sign reading “Marching for Our Grandkids” along with photographs of two of them — Nathan, 7, and Ben, 5.
“The sign is self-evident,” he said. “I want to help make sure that the planet continues to exist for them.”
Judith Fox-Lee of Perth wore a string of buttons down her plaid winter cape – souvenirs, she said, of a lifetime of similar protests.
“There have been many campaigns,” she said, “but they have all pointed in the same direction.”
Planning for the march — one of many across the world — began long before Canada’s Oct. 19 federal election.
Organizers admit that the friendly, good-natured, almost carnival-like mood Sunday might have been significantly darker and angrier had the Conservative government retained power.
“We had a very difficult situation with the Harper government,” said organizer Tim Gray, “and judging from the results of the last election, the Canadian public weren’t that crazy about them, either.”
Except for a few Justin Trudeau images pinned to homemade placards — one read “We Need You” — there was little political partisanship evident on the march.
“This issue has so much public momentum,” said Gray.
March organizers wanted to send the message that there are alternatives to fossil fuel “addiction” and huge strides in technology have produced affordable energy alternatives.
“You don’t have to wear hair shirts and be cave dwellers,” said Gray. “It’s Teslas, walking to your local coffee shop and reductions in the price of wind and solar power. The whole field has become a lot more interesting.”
Veteran environmental guru David Suzuki drew a rapturous welcome as he walked onto the stage at city hall to send the marchers on their way.
Recalling the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Suzuki urged marchers to treat the efforts to stem climate change as a war effort.
“(After Pearl Harbor) nobody said, ‘Oh, my God, this will destroy the economy, we can’t afford to fight back.’ There was only one choice — there was no choice.
“At this moment of climate crisis,” he added, “there is an opportunity for radical transformation in our society. We have to transform the way we live on this planet.”
Suzuki urged the crowd to be “thoughtful” in its climate change campaigning — “or else the right wing ideologues and bigots will seize the moment to take over the agenda.”
The march was largely self-regulating but watched over along the route by dozens of police officers.
An external security-style camera attached to the rear of a white van travelled slowly ahead of the marchers who finished with a mass gathering and group photograph on the Hill.
According to Ari Pottens, a campaigner for the international group AVAAZ, an edited video of the march will be transmitted to Paris and shown to the Canadian delegation.
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
From grandparents to parents with toddlers, many wore green clothing and hats, and numerous other green adornments, making the event reminiscent of a well-ordered St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The “100% Possible March for Climate Change Solutions and Justice” was organized by a coalition of business, First Nations, labour and environmental groups, and timed to coincide with the meeting of world leaders at this week’s climate change conference in Paris.
Organizers and supporters say a 100-per-cent clean economy by 2050 is the only way to solve “the climate crisis”.
“There’s no such thing as a Planet B,” quipped one.
Sym Gill from Toronto, one of many grandparents on the march, carried a sign reading “Marching for Our Grandkids” along with photographs of two of them — Nathan, 7, and Ben, 5.
“The sign is self-evident,” he said. “I want to help make sure that the planet continues to exist for them.”
Judith Fox-Lee of Perth wore a string of buttons down her plaid winter cape – souvenirs, she said, of a lifetime of similar protests.
“There have been many campaigns,” she said, “but they have all pointed in the same direction.”
Planning for the march — one of many across the world — began long before Canada’s Oct. 19 federal election.
Organizers admit that the friendly, good-natured, almost carnival-like mood Sunday might have been significantly darker and angrier had the Conservative government retained power.
“We had a very difficult situation with the Harper government,” said organizer Tim Gray, “and judging from the results of the last election, the Canadian public weren’t that crazy about them, either.”
Except for a few Justin Trudeau images pinned to homemade placards — one read “We Need You” — there was little political partisanship evident on the march.
“This issue has so much public momentum,” said Gray.
March organizers wanted to send the message that there are alternatives to fossil fuel “addiction” and huge strides in technology have produced affordable energy alternatives.
“You don’t have to wear hair shirts and be cave dwellers,” said Gray. “It’s Teslas, walking to your local coffee shop and reductions in the price of wind and solar power. The whole field has become a lot more interesting.”
Veteran environmental guru David Suzuki drew a rapturous welcome as he walked onto the stage at city hall to send the marchers on their way.
Recalling the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Suzuki urged marchers to treat the efforts to stem climate change as a war effort.
“(After Pearl Harbor) nobody said, ‘Oh, my God, this will destroy the economy, we can’t afford to fight back.’ There was only one choice — there was no choice.
“At this moment of climate crisis,” he added, “there is an opportunity for radical transformation in our society. We have to transform the way we live on this planet.”
Suzuki urged the crowd to be “thoughtful” in its climate change campaigning — “or else the right wing ideologues and bigots will seize the moment to take over the agenda.”
The march was largely self-regulating but watched over along the route by dozens of police officers.
An external security-style camera attached to the rear of a white van travelled slowly ahead of the marchers who finished with a mass gathering and group photograph on the Hill.
According to Ari Pottens, a campaigner for the international group AVAAZ, an edited video of the march will be transmitted to Paris and shown to the Canadian delegation.
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
