News Articles
Guelph Student Leads Initiative to
‘Fill the Hill’ in Ottawa on Climate Day
‘We want Canada to lead, follow or get out of the way in Copenhagen’
By Barry Gunn
A Guelph student is spearheading a national initiative to get thousands of people to gather on Parliament Hill Oct. 24 to push for action on climate change.
“Climate Day: Fill the Hill” will be the largest event to take place in Canada as part of the International Day of Climate Action, says co-director Gracen Johnson, a third-year international development student and an environmental advocate. She’s urging people from all backgrounds and all parts of the country to carpool, charter buses, take trains or use any other form of sustainable transportation to get to Ottawa.
“By coming together on Oct. 24, Canadians from all walks of life can make their voices heard on the most important issue facing our planet,” says Johnson, whose activism was inspired by hearing David Suzuki say the only way to spark legislative action on climate change is to fill Parliament Hill with concerned citizens.
“It’s not intended to be an angry finger wag at the government,” she says. “We just want to show our politicians that Canadians not only support them in making some difficult and brave choices in order to do what’s right, but that we also insist they do what’s right, rather than what’s easy or politically expedient.”
Combined with thousands of grassroots happenings large and small in communities all over the world that day, “Fill the Hill” is intended to be a low-commitment, high-impact event, Johnson adds.
“This is just one weekend, but it’s going to be the weekend. This could be a turning point for our country.”
To make it happen, she has assembled a team of volunteers with the help of co-director Aiden Abram, a Guelph graduate working in community development and environmental services, and U of G political science student Derek Alton.
“We’ve got a broad base of people and organizations involved who will make this event unlike any other,” says Alton. “It’s a huge logistical challenge, but we can do it. It’s unifying. It’s not just for environmentalists: it’s for all people, all Canadians, all people around the world.”
The event will take place six weeks before world leaders gather in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Johnson and Alton invite people who are concerned about the issue to participate Oct. 24 in their own communities or by heading to Ottawa. Johnson says people can also help by asking members of Parliament to speed passage of Bill C-311, which requires Canada to meet its international obligations by cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 25 per cent below 1990 levels in the next 10 years, and by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
“We’re sending a clear message to our government that we want Canada to play a positive role in Copenhagen in December,” she says. “We want Canada to lead, follow or get out of the way in Copenhagen. If that happens, then that’s an achieve- ment.”