A group gathered outside MP Maryam Monsef’s Bethune Street office on Friday, demanding action on climate change.
“This isn’t a game anymore, it isn’t a political game, it isn’t about political parties. All of our politicians have to make serious policy decisions to help us fight climate change in this country,” said Peter Morgan, one of the organizers of Friday’s rally.
Many dressed in black in a show of solidarity as the group called for immediate action from the federal government.
“What’s being done now is not quite enough. The Trudeau government is imposing a price on carbon and that’s a great start, but they’re suggesting that’s all they need to do. They have to do much more,” Morgan said.
A representative from Monsef’s office was handed a list of demands, which called for an end of subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, the implementation of a price on carbon, training people to work in the green energy sector and educating Canadians on the impacts of climate change.
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While Ottawa has imposed a carbon tax, Ontario’s government has cut cap and trade and slashed Green energy programs. The group says it plans to meet with MPP Dave Smith next.
“People keep saying, ‘What is it going to cost us and cost the economy to address climate change?’ The question is the wrong question,” said Alan Slavin, a member of Peterborough Alliance for Climate Change. “The question is, ‘What will it cost us not to address climate change?'”
Speakers at Friday’s rally spoke with a sense of urgency, many referencing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which states that governments have about 10 to 15 years to act before the damage to the earth becomes irreparable.
“We’re being told that we have all the technology in hand to address the problems now. All we’re lacking is the political will. But we have to do it quickly,” Slavin said.
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