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St. Albertans join Thunberg at Edmonton climate rally

"We are doing this because our future is at stake": Swedish activist Greta Thunberg speaks to thousands at Legislature

St. Albert residents joined thousands of protesters who joined Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in a climate strike Friday in Edmonton, while counter-protesters drove a honking convoy by.

From the steps of the Legislature, Thunberg talked about young people around the globe sacrificing their education to bring attention to the climate emergency.

“We are not doing this because we want to. We aren’t doing it because it’s fun. We aren’t doing it because we have a special interest in the climate, or because we want to become politicians when we grow up,” she said. “We are doing this because our future is at stake. We are doing this because in this crisis we will not be bystanders, and we are doing it because we want the people in power to unite behind the science.”

Sixteen-year-old Thunberg has been thrust to the helm of a Global Climate Strike after she initiated the “Fridays For Future” in 2018, encouraging fellow students to skip school and demand action on climate change from governments.

Climate strikers in Edmonton on Friday amassed at Beaver Hills House Park before marching through downtown – led by Thunberg – to the Alberta Legislature.

Before and as marchers arrived, counter-protesters with United We Roll For Canada were signalling their support for oil and gas by laying on their horns while driving by on 109 Street.

The climate strike ceremony was kicked off by Indigenous prayers and a Treaty 6 land acknowledgement.

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud participated in the march through downtown Edmonton and said it makes her feel hopeful to hear young people speaking up about their future.

Renaud added Canada needs to focus on a “well thought-out transition” to clean energy.

“The fact remains the product we produce here create emissions. We need to be smart about how we create this transition, we don’t want to unduly harm our economy, but we need to address the fact we need to drastically bring down our emission,” she said.

St. Albert carpenter Tim Boetzkes attended the march and said it was “fantastic” to see all the people, young and old alike, out at the march.

He added the climate emergency needs to be addressed really quickly, and comparing oil to an addiction.

“I think in Alberta it’s pretty important, too. Humanity is addicted to oil – it is like an addiction – I suppose Alberta is saying, well we have clean needles, the rest of the world has dirty needles, but it’s still needing a fix.”

The counter-protest was organized by Innisfail's Glen Carritt, who told the Innisfail Province counter-protesters want to show they are fighting for oil, gas and the Canadian energy sector.

“We’re showing the other side, the positive side and how proud we are of the oil and gas industry,” he added. “We don’t need people like Greta telling us that we should be shutting down our oil and gas industry when we need to flourish with it. We’re tired of spending $50 million a day on foreign oil when we should be using Canadian oil.”

– With files from Kristine Jean

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