Climate Strike
An international phenomenon that calls for climate action is sweeping the world, has made the way to Fredericton, New Brunswick.
The global campaign started by Greta Thunberg calls for action on governments to recognize that there is a climate crisis. Fredericton took their action by writing a letter of demands to Premier Blaine Higgs. The letter expressed concerns regarding the use of oil and the floods that Fredericton has been experiencing.
“In New Brunswick, we noticed in the past few years the major flooding in the low line areas and climate change has been on our radar for a long time now,” said Grand Chief Ron Tremblay
During the protest that started on UNB’s campus, protesters of all ages could be seen spread throughout the lawn in front of Harriet Iriving Libary to show their support for the climate.
The event had speakers such as the candidates running for MP. Jeniak Atwin spoke on what the Green Party plans to do and Matt DeCourcey spoke about what the liberals are currently doing, but he was quickly drowned out by protesters yelling “No more pipeline.”
“It’s so inspiring, it’s so, so exciting”, said David Coon on seeing the youth turnout for the climate strike. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to build this kind of community and society. We’ve got to bring them out in the next 10 years. And so to have so many young people committed to change and demanding politicians act on that- it’s essential.”
When the march was underway Extention Rebellion urged for the protest to stay peaceful.
Protesters began chanting all the way from UNB to the Premier’s office. Once they finally made it to their destination, the protesters demanded Higgs come out and collect the letter. Instead, he had a staff member come and collect it. Even with the letter collected the protesters stayed and occupied the lobby of the Premier’s building.
