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LEARNMOREATTHEGLOBEINSIDERS.CASATURDAY,OCTOBER19,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A21
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg
marched alongside thousands of
protesters in Alberta’s capital on
Friday as she waded into a con-
tentious debate about how to
confront climate change just
days before a federal election.
Ms. Thunberg’s appearance in
Alberta had drawn criticism from
provincial politicians and other
pro-oil voices in the province, al-
though her speech at the event
did not touch on the province’s
oil sands. In a speech on the legis-
lature steps, the 16-year-old said
she had received a “wonderful re-
ception” in Alberta.
“We cannot allow this crisis to
continue to be a partisan, politi-
cal question. The climate and ec-
ological crisis is far beyond party
politics and the main enemy
right now should not be any po-
litical opponents, because our
main enemy is physics,” she said.
Ms. Thunberg visited Montreal
last month, where climate
marchers numbered 500,000. But
in Alberta, where the energy sec-
tor drives the economy, the cli-
mate rally comes at a fraught po-
litical juncture. As the Oct. 21
election day draws near, some
Canadians have the issue of cli-
mate change at top of mind, but
for many Albertans, a still-sag-
ging economy remains a top con-
cern.
As protesters rallied outside
his office, Alberta Premier Jason
Kenney, a staunch advocate for
his province’s key industry, was
at the opening of new natural gas
pipeline that is part of a project
to convert a coal-fired power
plant to gas.
Ms. Thunberg had little specif-
ic to say about the province or
the country. But she said in the
push to dramatically cut green-
house gases, richer countries
such as Sweden or Canada “need
to get down to zero emissions
much faster so that people in
poorer parts of the world can
heighten their standard of living
by building some of the infras-
tructure we have already built –
such as roads, hospitals, electric-
ity, schools and providing clean
drinking water.”
She called on “the people in
power to unite behind the sci-
ence.”
The marchers chanted and
sang, with Indigenous protesters
leading the walk. Throughout the
march, Ms. Thunberg was sur-rounded in protective fashion by
supporters and, after her speech,
by Edmonton police on bicycles.
Kenzie Gordon, a PhD student,
brought her four-month-old son
to the climate strike.
“As a new parent, it’s scary,”
she said. “I don’t want him to ask,
‘Where were you? What were you
doing?’ So we’re here to demand
action.”
And on streets near the legisla-
ture, Alberta oil and gas support-
ers from a group called United We
Roll who had travelled from
south of the city loudly honked
their horns in a counter-rally.
There were a few people who
shouted at the marchers at the
sidelines but, over all, Edmonton
police thanked everyone whotook part in the rally “for their co-
operation.”
Among the protesters were a
handful of marchers with a differ-
ent message. Cort Gallup of Fort
McKay, an Alberta First Nations
community surrounded by oil
sands mines, wore a bright green
“I love Canadian oil and gas”
shirt.
“I love my country very much.
And it’s hard for me to sit by and
watch people attack it, and see
Canada shoot itself in the foot,”
Mr. Gallup said.
“I want to represent the other
side – the support for Canadian
oil and gas.”
The day’s events were largely
ignored by the United Conserva-
tive Party government, whichwon a majority this year on a
strong pro-industry platform.
Earlier this week,the govern-
ment said Ms. Thunberg should
recognize the province’s “leading
human-rights and environmen-
tal standards, especially in com-
parison to oil-producing dictator-
ships” such as Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Russia and Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Ken-
ney said instead of calling for the
shutdown of the modern econo-
my, and “instead of supporting
policies that would throw mil-
lions out of work, folks should
learn a little bit about real practi-
cal measures that industry is tak-
ing in order to reduce emissions
for the power that they rely upon
every single day.”ThunbergmarchesinEdmontonclimatestrike
Swedishactivist,
whohasbeencriticized
bypro-oilvoices
intheprovince,calls
onpoliticiansto‘unite
behindthescience’
KELLYCRYDERMANEDMONTON
Swedishclimate-changeactivistGretaThunberg,centre,poseswithlocalactivistsduringaclimate-strikemarchoutsidetheAlbertaLegislaturein
EdmontononFriday.Ms.Thunbergsaid‘wecannotallowthiscrisistocontinuetobeapartisan,politicalquestion.’AMBERBRACKEN/REUTERS