Greta Thunberg to attend Vancouver climate strike, organizers say
Climate activist Greta Thunberg will be in Vancouver for a post-election climate strike in the city's downtown core on Friday, according to rally organizers.
Thunberg, 16, has been abandoning school on Fridays in favour of climate demonstrations since August 2018. Her once-individual movement has grown into a worldwide youth effort, including climate strikes held in unison across Canada and the rest of the world to demand world leaders do more to combat the climate crisis.
The Swedish activist will be outside the Vancouver Art Gallery for her 62nd school strike on Friday, according to Sustainabiliteens, a group of teenagers that has organized previous climate strikes in Vancouver.
In a statement, the group said youth are pushing for cross-party collaboration to tackle the climate crisis from a newly elected minority federal government.
"I was too young to vote in Monday's election, so I, along with the rest of my generation, am raising my voice in the only way available to me: Taking to the streets," wrote one organizer, Allie Ho.
Thunberg was in Edmonton last week to join thousands of protesters marching in Canada's energy heartland. A smaller counter-rally led by a truck convoy of oil and gas workers also converged on Edmonton.
"We're not doing this because it's fun or because we have a special interest in the climate or because we want to become politicians when we grow up. We're doing this because our future is at stake," Thunberg told a cheering crowd, which organizers estimated was 10,000-strong, from the steps of the Alberta legislature building.
The planned protest Friday will mark the fourth in the city in as many weeks.
Students and workers inspired by Thunberg abandoned schools and offices on Sept. 20 to pressure global leaders gathering for the UN Summit in New York City. Weeks later, the Cambie Street Bridge and Burrard Street Bridge, arterial bridges into downtown Vancouver, were shut down as demonstrators, mostly teenagers, marched to demand climate action.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hung onto power Monday after a tight federal election that saw his government reduced to a minority.
Thunberg met with Trudeau ahead of the election and told him he hasn't been doing enough to protect the environment from the threat of runaway climate change.
