Three weeks ago a call-out for a national day of action against pipelines, runaway climate change and reckless expansion of the oilsands drifted over the Rockies and spread north and east across Canada. The response from Canadians has been so overwhelming it now appears November 16th will see the biggest climate event in Canadian history. 

“There is a growing movement in Canada that wants climate put back on the national agenda,” says Logan McIntosh, a coordinator with the Vancouver-based democracy advocacy group LeadNow.

A staggering one hundred communities in nearly all provinces and territories have registered for the event known as Defend Our Climate. The local organizers vary from environmental groups, First Nations, and people organizing a rally for the first time. Participants will creatively demonstrate “a united wall of opposition” in their communities against the federal government’s resource extraction agenda.

“On November 16th we will see this movement is united from coast-to-coast-to-coast,” McIntosh told DeSmog Canada. McIntosh is one of the national organizers of Defend Our Climate.

“It’s easy to feel a sense of hopelessness given Canada’s current political and economic climate. But I fully reject the idea that we can’t turn this ship around,” says Katie Perfitt, organizer of the Defend Our Climate rally in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Thousands Rallying for the Climate a Sign of the Times in Canada

Planning and promoting an event involving dozens of actions and rallies and thousands of participants across the country usually takes months to accomplish. Defend Our Climate has come together in mere weeks. This may be a sign of the times in Canadians find themselves in.

Defend Our Climate emerges at a time when the federal government is pushing aggressively for the approval of five controversial oilsands pipeline proposals, two of which – Northern Gateway and Line 9 – could have decisions by the New Year. It is hard to find a Canadian province that is not dealing with a pipeline proposal of this sort right now.

Canada heads to this year’s UN talks on the world’s collective response to climate change (UNFCCC) in Warsaw, Poland this week after revelations last October Canada is failing to meet its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. Canada also has developed a reputation of hindering the progress of UN climate talks.

“You can't keep expanding the tar sands and meet the reduction target," Mark Jaccard an energy economist at Simon Frasier University told DeSmog in a previous interview.

The oilsands (also called tar sands) of northern Alberta have become the poster child of the federal government's inaction on climate change. The energy intensive process required to turn oilsands bitumen into something similar to oil makes development in the area the fastest growing source of GHG emissions in Canada. And the industry plans on tripling production of this low-grade unconventional oil by 2030.

“Why is Canada moving backwards instead of forward? Why can't the government step in and invest in more sustainable technology instead of spending money harming the environment?” says Abby Locke, Defend Our Climate rally organizer in Oshawa, Ontario. Locke is a third year forensic psychology undergraduate at UOIT in Oshawa.

Participants Will Demonstrate a 'Wall of Opposition' in 100 Communities Across Canada

Locke and other participants will stand together arm-in-arm in front of federal MP Colin Carrie’s office in Oshawa and snap a quick photo of their ‘wall of opposition’, a theme that will play out in Canadian cities and towns from Repulse Bay, Nunavut to Baie-Comeau, Quebec on November 16th.

In Halifax, organizer Katie Perfitt says participants will also lock arms but with a touch of street theatre. Individuals in costumes representing pipelines and fossil fuels will be ‘blocked’ by another group representing alternative energy standing between the ‘pipelines/fossil fuels lobby’ and Nova Scotia’s provincial legislature.

“We need to keep pressuring the federal government and show them large numbers of Canadians are concerned about these issues. The more they are forced to listen, the more they have to do something about it,” Locke told DeSmog Canada. Oshawa is one of the many communities the Line 9 pipeline passes through in Ontario and Quebec.

A Community of Canadians Striving for A Sustainable Energy Future

For many Canadians it may be difficult to share the optimism of people like Perfitt, McIntosh or Locke that Canada can move towards taking adequate action on climate change and reduce the country’s growing carbon footprint. The next federal election will bring either a Liberal or Conservative government and both parties support the expansion of the tar sands and the construction of more pipelines despite the consequences for the climate.

Still, Perfitt finds inspiration in local success stories.

Nova Scotia has enacted legislation that limits the province’s GHG emissions from electrical production and lays out plans for renewable energy to supply 25% of the province’s electricity in two years. Nova Scotia, along with Quebec and Newfoundland, has a moratorium on ‘fracking’ for natural gas in the province.

“Being part of a coast-to-coast-to-coast community of Canadians who believe in a equitable, secure and sustainable energy future for all Canadians gives me hope,” says Perfitt, who is a graduate student in environmental studies.

In a way, Defend Our Climate is the day these Canadian success stories stand together along with the success stories in the making such as BC’s unwavering opposition to Northern Gateway and residents of New Brunswick digging in their heels in against fracking. These are stories that will shape the future of Canada and determine if the nation will join the world in tackling climate change before it is too late.

Image Credit: Defend Our Climate, CAN-RAC Canada, Powershift

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

Last weekend, Kitimat, BC was abuzz with Let’s Talk Energy, a corporate-backed event to showcase Kitimat to oil and gas developers.

Some of the biggest oil companies and proponents of the Enbridge pipeline and the expansion of Alberta’s tar sands more generally sponsored the event: Enbridge, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, Chevron, Shell, MEG Energy, Petroleum Services of Association of Canada, and TransCanada. Attendees could even catch a keynote from Peter Tertzakian, an energy economist with a $2.7 billion energy-focused private equity firm that invests in upstream oil and gas and infrastructure.

Prior to the event, some residents of Kitimat got creative. At the intersection before the trade fair, they hung a Pipe Up Against Enbridge sign announcing Defend our Climate, Defend our Communities National Day of Action on November 16.   

With a decision over the controversial project expected by next year, Murray Minchin, a mail carrier with Canada Post and one of the people behind the banner wanted to make sure Enbridge got the message loud and clear.

“We put the banner up at the intersection just before where the event was held because we wanted it in their face. We wanted to show that we haven't gone anywhere, we aren't going anywhere, we haven't forgotten what's at stake and we’re in this for the long haul,“ he said.

Kitimat is ground zero for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project, and the issue of the pipeline has ignited opposition in the community and across the country.

The banner remains near the backdrop of the Kitimat River, which feeds into the Douglas Channel. If approved, the tar sands pipeline would carry 525,000 barrels a day of crude near family homes in the community onto more than 200 supertankers each year.

According to a new international study, these 200 supertankers could put the Douglas Channel’s recovering whale population at risk.

For Minchin, the pipeline and tanker issue is deeply personal. “I grew up in Kitimat. I’ve been hiking for years in this area. My wife and I sea kayaked this coast for 6 months. I’ve got an intimate understanding of what this environment is like. It’s powerful yet delicate. It’s important that we come together to stop any liquid oil product coming to the coast. It’s too dangerous for this area that is too important for this world.”

On Saturday November 16, the Defend Our Climate, Defend our Communities National Day of Action will see opposition events taking place in communities across Canada.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.