Canadian youth delegates, including Amber Church [Students on Ice Alumnus - Antarctica ‘05/Arctic ‘08, currently National Director of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition] of Whitehorse, centre, hold up the oilsands report in Copenhagen on Wednesday. (Patricia Bell/CBC)
Canadian youth protest tarsands in Copenhagen
Dozens of Canadian youth at the United Nations’ climate change summit in Copenhagen led a protest against the Alberta oilands on Wednesday, calling for a moratorium on new oilsands development.
CBC News (December 9, 2009) — Dozens of Canadian youth at the United Nations’ climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, led a protest against the Alberta oilands on Wednesday, calling for a moratorium on further oilsands development.
Around 50 youth rallied at Copenhagen’s Bella Center, where the summit is taking place, shouting slogans such as “Shut down the tarsands!” and “Clean up your act, Canada!”
The event was organized by Climate Action Network Canada, a non-governmental organization, to coincide with the release of a new report that calls for an immediate halt to oilsands work.
The report, Tarnishing the Maple Leaf, was prepared by Equiterre, Environmental Defence, Forest Ethics and Climate Action Network Canada.
The young demonstrators say they want the Copenhagen delegates to know about the Alberta oilsands and their impacts on the environment and human health. Some went further.
“We would like to see the tarsands shut down with a just transition for the workers,” said Amber Church, a Whitehorse glaciologist who led the Canadian youth delegation to Copenhagen.
“We want to see an emphasis on a green economy. We want to see an emphasis on indigenous rights.”
One of Wednesday’s demonstration leaders, Daniel T’seleie of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., called the oilsands issue a matter of human rights, as he believes such development infringes on aboriginal treaty rights.
“There has been a distinct lack of proper consultation with the First Nations in the tarsands area, such as the Mikisew Cree,” T’seleie said, referring to the Mikisew Cree First Nation in northern Alberta.
In calling for an oilsands moratorium, the demonstrators said Canada needs to reclaim its reputation as a clean, green country with progressive environmental policies.
For more information, visit http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/12/09/copenhagen-oilsands-protest.html
Protesters hold up a banner at a rally held Wednesday in Copenhagen’s Bella Center. (Patricia Bell/CBC)