Global rally to stop global warming draws hundreds in Toronto
TORONTO, Dec. 7 /CNW Telbec/- Hundreds of people rallied at Toronto's
Yonge-Dundas Square today to demonstrate over the
Canadian government's lack
of action on greenhouse gas emissions.
Rallies took place in twenty Canadian
cities, and over seventy countries around the world to demand
immediate action
while the 14th United Nations Conference on Climate Change takes place in
Poznan, Poland.
"Canadians are frustrated at our government's inaction
on climate change.
This week, the Canadian delegation at the UN talks was
given the "Fossil of
the Day" award four times for their obstructionist approach
to reducing
emissions" said Charlotte Ireland of the Toronto Climate Campaign.
"Around the
world this weekend, we saw a groundswell of public opinion
pushing for urgent
and radical action on global warming, without which we risk catastrophe."
The Canadian government has failed to act on global warming and has
blocked progress at previous climate meetings.
The Toronto Climate Campaign
demands that the government increase support
for renewable energy, energy
efficiency and green jobs.
The TCC also promotes KYOTOplus (www.kyotoplus.ca),
a campaign to ensure
that the Kyoto Protocol is strengthened and
extended at the UN climate
conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Speakers List:
Bruce Cox, Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada
John Cartwright, President, Toronto & York Region Labour Council;
Shelley Melanson and Hilda Otiano, Canadian Federation of Students
Feodor Snagovsky, The Solar and Wind Initiatives
Towards Change (SWITCH);
Francisco Rico-Martinez, Canadian Council for Refugees;
Dewan Afzal, Bangladeshi Community Activist and
Member of the Sunshine Walk
Misha Hamu, 13 year old Environtmental Activist, Toronto Climate
Campaign.