Gavin MacRae photos
Comox Valley Students ‘Stand up, Fight Back’ for Climate Action
A jovial yet determined crowd of student strikers and adult supporters over 250 strong marched through downtown Courtenay Friday, to demand action on climate change.
The protest started with a rally at Courtenay City Hall.
The crowd cheered as speakers said it was time to “stand up and fight back” against fossil fuel interests and insufficient government action.
“We are here today under a unified cause to protest climate change,” said Nalan Goosen, a co-organizer of the event.
Speaking through a megaphone, Goosen said investments in the tar sands and other fossil fuel infrastructure make Canadian banks culpable for climate change.
To showcase this, the demonstration traced a serpentine route through the downtown to pause and protest at CIBC, Bank of Montreal, and Scotia Bank.
Outside CIBC the crowd chanted, “No more coal, no more oil, keep the carbon in the soil!”
At Bank of Montreal the rallying cry was, “What do we want? Climate Action! When do we want it? Now!”
Finally, the Scotia Bank received, “Corporate greed we must fight, polluting earth is not a right!”
The crowd also made a stop at the office of MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard, where she and MP Gord Johns spoke with the demonstrators.
Both politicians gave short impromptu speeches on the importance of protecting the environment.
Students put questions to Leonard and Johns about increasing climate education in the school system, protecting old-growth forest and marine areas and fighting the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The answers met with some applause, and Goosen said he was hopeful Leonard would bring the demonstrators’ concerns about old-growth logging to Doug Donaldson, BC’s Minister of Forests. Goosen was also hopeful Johns would echo the students’ concern over the climate crisis in Ottawa.
The protest ended with a return to City Hall.
Students said all but two schools in Comox and Courtenay were represented among the protesters.
“The turnout was amazing,” said Mackai Sharp, a co-organizer of the protest. “The last two events had under 35 people.”
Sharp and Goosen are leaders of the Comox Valley-based Youth Environmental Action, which planned the protest. The group has a separate arm for adults named Adult Allies for Youth Environmental Action.
”This will not be our last protest, said Goosen. “We don’t have very long to solve the climate crisis, so this movement of youth empowerment is essential to our health and survival.”
Gavin MacRae is the assistant editor of Watershed Sentinel, which is a publishing partner of Decafnation
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
On Merville groundwater extraction it’s deja vu all over again
Regional district staff recommend approving an amended application for groundwater extraction in Merville as a “home occupation,” but rural area directors want more clarity on its legal definition
Merville water bottling issue returns to the CVRD, highlights provincial water policies
The Comox Valley Electoral Areas Service Commission will consider on Monday an amended application for water bottling operations in Merville and draw attention to larger water policy issues in British Columbia
What’s dire: the lack of Comox subdivisions or climate change and gradual deforestation?
A Comox Valley developer is suing the Town of Comox because his permits to cut down trees and build more single-family homes haven’t been issued as fast as he’s wanted and because the town wants a wider walking trail through the property
Join the discussion Oct. 3 about food system security in the Comox Valley
The Watershed Sentinel magazine is hosting a zoom webinar Oct. 3 on food system security in the Comox Valley
Comox Valley Nature webinar to discuss effect of climate change on marine life
Comox Valley Nature lecture to discuss how this summer’s heatwave killed off billions of sea life and the future for marine ecosystems
New North Island organics processing facility raises concerns about cost, fire and odours
Campbell River environmentalists raise concerns about the the cost and location of the Comox Strathcona Waste Management Commission’s new organics processing facility
THE WEEK: 5 things wrong with how Comox tried to hide sewage spill information
Comox Town Council has nothing to say about raw sewage leaking into Brooklyn Creek beyond issuing a press release, which makes misleading statements
Tonnes of sewage mud removed from Brooklyn Creek, nearby residents say its been piling up for years
A Town of Comox infrastructure failure could have spilled raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek for a long time, according to nearby residents who have noticed unusual plant growth and sewage-type odours for nearly 24 months. Mayor and councilors say they didn’t know about it
Town of Comox spills raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek, doesn’t inform public
A broken pipe has spilled raw sewage into Brooklyn Creek and it appears that efforts to mitigate the damage have created a high level of turbidity, a double whammy for fish as well as a potential public health concern. But the Town of Comox has not yet formally informed the public.
Campbell River Environmental Committee lists its current top priorities
The Campbell River Environmental Committee has kept North Island residents aware of environmental risks and promoted awareness of potential concerns to help government and industry make informed decisions
Protests just keep being recycled. Remember the early 1970s “Hell no, we won’t go” but they did go. Remember the protest to stop the pipeline which turned into “lower the gas prices” and cost money to clean up the garbage dump the protesters left behind? Now the youth protest where parents dropped off their kids via a gas guzzler with every child having a cell phone in their pocket. When you block traffic and cars are sitting idling – tell me again how serious you are about climate change. It’s show time!
A response from and a presentation to the school district board of education is conspicuous by its absence. Where are the school trustees and senior administration on the issue and the action by students?
Comox Valley has to be impressed that our young people are expressing interest and concern about their future.
A response from and a presentation to the school district board of education is conspicuous by its absence. Where are the school trustees and senior administration on the issue and the action by students?
A friend living in the USA had a chat with some locals about Trump. Here was a growing consensus there. I would submit that the same is true in the Comox Valley. What our SD needs is a healthy dose of student democracy.
Here is what was sent to me:
We had a discussion on the importance of a free press yesterday in the discussion group. Oddly enough, one factor which members raised as a contributory factor in the Trumpian attacks on media is the lack of civics education in US schools – the population does not know the relationship between the media and good government. – and the lack of training in critical thinking skills. Seems to me I heard similar complaints in Canada over the years.