{"id":2185,"date":"2019-09-30T12:19:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T16:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/?p=2185"},"modified":"2025-07-25T11:54:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:54:24","slug":"thousands-of-ottawa-students-march-to-protest-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/2019\/thousands-of-ottawa-students-march-to-protest-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Ottawa Students March to Protest Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Thousands of Ottawa Students March to Protest Climate Change\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Carmen Warner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ALiGN recently spoke with several students who attended the climate change protest on Friday, September 27th<\/sup>, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, inspired by the strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg. This includes Carmen Warner, a PhD student at Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had many conversations with people about the value of protesting, that it isn\u2019t the same radical act it was and doesn\u2019t have the same effects as it did in the 60s and 70s, which is absolutely true…But I also think it\u2019s arrogant to assume you can know what the effects of a day like today could be. You don\u2019t know how it will affect popular narratives that circulate about climate change, or if it will change the way people vote or just even think about the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALiGN asked Warner to share some of the comments she heard others around her saying at the march.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crowd were definitely gathering against a common problem, but certainly don\u2019t have the same ideas about what past actions have led to climate change and how best to combat it now and in the future. For instance, at one point, my partner overheard two people behind us talking about how \u201cthere sure seems to be a lot of anti-capitalism here\u2026Meanwhile, just ahead of us was a sign that read \u201cKill Capitalism, Cure our Disease\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if she had any favorite signs spotted at the protest, Warner said, \u201cHell yeah. One said \u201cHorsemen of the Apocalypse\u201d and had a picture of people like Max Bernier, Doug Ford, and Andrew Scheer. Another said \u201cBurn the System, Not Fossil Fuels\u201d and another: \u201cDon\u2019t Frack With Mother Nature\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Carmen Warner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What seemed to be some of the most important messages?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is obviously informed by what I think are the most important messages, but I was really happy that I personally didn\u2019t see any signs that individualize responses to climate change, like nothing about straws or recycling… Instead I saw signs about things like moving away from fossil fuels. This felt overwhelmingly about the need to make systemic change, about demanding that the government take action, and that they take action now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warner was hesitant to make any claims or predictions about what could potentially happen as a result of the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut if I could hope wildly for a moment, it would be that we start connecting the dots on a large scale between capitalism, imperialism, and climate change and demand structural changes that reflect that understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton PhD students Carmen Warner (left) and Veronika Kratz (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When ALiGN asked what message she would want world leaders to hear if she could have their undivided attention, Warner said she did not want<\/em> the world leaders’ attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want the attention of the workers living paycheck to paycheck in fossil fuel and fossil fuel related industries who don\u2019t see themselves reflected in climate change action discourse. I would say: don\u2019t let your fears be mobilized into hate or anger by those that profit massively from your labor. They do not have your best interests at heart, only their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 15-year-old high school student Kevin Burns, part of the appeal of the protest included missing half a day of school \u201cbut I also know it\u2019s important to be here – to be part of this huge gang pushing back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked to define \u201cclimate change,\u201d Burns was eager to explain its impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the effects of humans- all the things humans do that negatively impact the earth. Like burning fossil fuels, car emissions, factories, and stuff like that. And it\u2019s been getting worse and keeps getting worse every year. Sea levels are rising because the ice is melting and some countries – those that are close to lots of water – are experiencing the impact from that first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Carmen Warner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When asked why some don\u2019t seem to take the threat seriously, Burns thought for a few minutes, then said, \u201cBecause it\u2019s a big effort and everybody has to get involved, but everyone thinks it\u2019s not their problem.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burns said we absolutely need to address global warming, though, and the sooner the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our planet. It\u2019s where we live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burns also believes that \u201cclimate change deniers don\u2019t actually think that it\u2019s not real\u2026but they\u2019re just skeptical about the numbers, not the actual event.  And they need our sympathy and support, instead of just ridicule\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These people aren\u2019t all idiots.  We can\u2019t just write them off, as they\u2019re people too, and they\u2019re going to continue to contribute to global warming and it\u2019s their planet too. We need to work with them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade eight student Kelly Dodge said she\u2019s afraid of what\u2019s going to happen to turtles and other ocean wild life if we don\u2019t become more aware of the dangers of plastic and, specifically, plastic straws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlastic is killing off turtles and other animals in the ocean. We need to think about what we\u2019re doing before it\u2019s too late. What\u2019s this world going to look like if we don\u2019t force change as soon as possible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burns agrees, saying this planet is the only home we have right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if we don\u2019t do something about it now, today, our kids won\u2019t have a planet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  ALiGN recently spoke with several students who attended the climate change protest on Friday, September 27th, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, inspired by the strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg. This includes Carmen Warner, a PhD student at Carleton University. \u201cI\u2019ve had many conversations with people about the value of protesting, that it isn\u2019t the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[45,1],"tags":[340,312,199,310,96],"class_list":["post-2185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-news","tag-carleton","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-change","tag-greta-thunberg","tag-youth"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3390,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185\/revisions\/3390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/align\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}