Climate justice activists demand immediate transition from fossil fuels amid record wildfires

By David Gordon Koch, NB Media Co-op

Climate justice advocates held rallies in Moncton and across the country on Wednesday, calling on the federal government to shut down the fossil fuel industry and transition to renewable energy without delay.

The protests took place amid a wildfire season in Canada that has seen approximately five million hectares of land destroyed, a record number for so early in the season. 

Climate scientists have said that hot, dry and windy conditions or “fire weather” are linked directly to the global climate crisis, which is driven by human greenhouse gas emissions. 

“We really have no more time left, we have to act immediately,” said climate justice activist Doug Swain, a retired scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 

He was among the protesters who rallied outside the office of MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor in Moncton, before they delivered a letter to her staff. 

The letter takes the federal government to task for its cooperation with the fossil fuel industry, and calls for Ottawa to quit subsidizing the sector.

“We know, as well as you do, that the members of your government party are meeting with oil lobbyist regularly,” the letter states. “What we don’t know is how you sleep at night.”

The Liberal MP wasn’t available for an interview, but her staff provided a brief statement defending the Trudeau government’s record on climate change.

“At COP26, we reiterated our commitment to phase out Canada’s fossil fuel subsidies by 2023 – two years earlier than originally planned,” the statement attributed to Petitpas Taylor said.

“We will continue to work with businesses and workers in the energy sector to lower emissions in a way that is compatible with a net-zero economy by 2050.”

Since taking office, she said, the Trudeau government had “committed over $120 billion in investments to reduce emissions, protect the environment, spur clean technologies and innovation, and help Canadians and communities adapt to the impacts of climate change we are seeing every day.”

Global surface air temperatures hit a significant threshold this month, rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Under the 2015 Paris agreement, an international treaty on climate change, countries agreed to “pursue efforts” to limit temperature increases to 1.5 Celsius, but global emissions reached a new high last year.

Activists also called for the feds to implement a “just transition” to renewable energy by creating unionized jobs while following Indigenous leadership.

Protesters in Moncton included trade unionist George Lehmann of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

Lehman, who is also a vice-president of New Brunswick Federation of Labour, said workers in fossil fuel industries should have access to jobs in emerging sectors such as electric car manufacturing.

“Put them into an industry where they can do the type of jobs that we need done,” he said. 

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).