Seniors group rallies to push climate change back up the political priority list
Climate activists say environmental issues largely overshadowed by other voter concerns
A group of New Brunswick seniors say they want to push environmental issues back up the political agenda this federal election, demanding Canadians pick a party with a proven plan to tackle the climate change crisis.
More than 100 members of Seniors for Climate chose Earth Day to hold a rally at the legislature in Fredericton.
Organizer Muriel Jarvis said seniors have witnessed the change in climate over the decades and they're determined to pass on a more livable planet for their grandchildren.
"We have the time, we have the resources, we have the wisdom, and we want to be able to make a difference," she said. "And we also vote in higher numbers than young people do."
Jarvis traveled from Saint Andrews for the event — a town that has seen fires, floods and coastal erosion.
"We had a forest fire two years ago and it was on the hottest day in May that I have ever experienced. It was 35 C in May. We've also had torrential rainfall and floods," she said. "Those are the issues that are really affecting us."
Jarvis said she wants to be the last generation "hooked on fossil fuels" and hopes people will elect a government that will "take the climate emergency very seriously and start investing in renewable energy like other countries around the world."
Trade war trumping climate
The message comes amid growing tensions between Canada and the United States, including a tariff war, threats of annexation and warnings that a global recession is mere months away. All of this, advocates say, has made the environment a low priority this election.
Beverly Gingras, director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said the environment is being overshadowed by a deteriorating relationship with the United States, even though it's all connected.
"The states are interested in our water, they're interested in our critical minerals, and why? Because of climate change. And they know the effects of climate change means less water in California and critical minerals are needed for electricity for solar panels," she said.
"Climate change is impacting all of these issues, but it's not getting the attention that it should be getting because people aren't making that connection between climate change and the economy and the other issues that are important to them."
Gingras said over the past few years, discussion about environmental issues has become "politicized and sometimes even demonized," when they should be a nonpartisan issue. She said that makes it hard to have an open and factual conversation about how to make things better.
"It also makes the government's job so much harder to work on these issues because of the divisiveness that gets created," she said. "Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution are complex issues that can't be solved in a sound bite, and that's kind of how we have seen politicians try to deal with the climate issue."
Mitigating and adapting to climate change
"We feel very, very passionately that we should be focusing on renewable energy and modernizing our electricity grids," Gingras said.
She said people should be looking for party platforms with a comprehensive climate change strategy, including "how to minimize climate change, the emissions that cause climate change, and then adaptation talks about how to make sure that communities are able to adapt to the impacts of climate change."
Gingras said there are individual choices that people can make that will help, such as walking more, cycling, taking the bus, or even buying an electric vehicle, but "honestly, we need to acknowledge the fact that the industrial polluters that are causing the problem."
Jarvis said Seniors for Climate would like to see the party in power hold corporations accountable for their role in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
"We would like them to be the ones that pay for the damage," she said. "The climate crisis, with all of the events that have happened in the last several years with fires and floods and so on, have cost billions and billions."
"It's time that the corporations that are contributing to this started to pay for it."
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