Eriel Deranger. Vancouver Observer video capture
Hundreds of Canadians will join tens of thousands of people in the streets of New York City next weekend for one of the largest climate change mobilizations in history.
Renewable energy advocates of all ages will be gathering as a part of the Tar Sands Free bloc at the march, which will coincide with the UN climate summit in New York.
“While this will be one of the largest climate marches in history, it also isn’t just about size. It’s about showing that people are standing alongside those impacted most by climate change and extreme extraction,” said Eriel Deranger, communications coordinator for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, who will be marching in New York. “People are impacted from the extraction of carbon polluting industries such as the Tar Sands and fracking, as well as the way to the extreme impacts of climate change.”
Travelling from Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston and Halifax, among other cities, the Canadian marchers will join communities impacted by climate disasters like Hurricane Sandy, and Indigenous peoples resisting tar sands and other extreme extraction both in Canada and abroad.
“It’s time to stop negotiating, because whilst these governments haggle over our lives, Indigenous and people of colour on the frontlines are dying,” said Crystal Lameman, a member of the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation also planning to join the march.
“We are here to take a stand. Enough is enough. We will not allow these governments to covet our air and our water. We are building a wall of defense and we are stopping tar sands at the source,” she added.
Stephen Harper has announced he will not attend the UN summit, which will take place on September 23 — two days after the march. Canada’s support for fossil fuel expansion remains a major issue blocking global action on climate change.
“It’s shameful that in this era of climate change, Stephen Harper refuses to face the music about his atrocious climate record in front of the world,” said Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a member of the Lubicon Cree Nation and Climate Campaigner with Greenpeace Canada. “We know he’s reluctant to go for a reason and we’re prepared to bring momentum home from this march and build a chorus calling for real, just climate action back in Canada.”
In Canada, actions are being planned to coincide with the summit. Demonstrations will take place all along the route of the newly proposed Energy East tar sands pipeline, and hundreds are expected to gather in the West Coast in opposition of energy exports through the Salish Sea.