Canada’s federal target is 3 per cent below 1990′s level by 2020, equivalent to 20 per cent less than 2006′s level, a target wholly inadequate to address the demands of science and justice that the climate crisis now presents. I am sad to say that Canada has also failed to take a leading role at the talks, instead actually presenting one of the major roadblocks to a fair and legally binding deal. (And all of this is not to mention the public shaming the Canadian delegation received at the hands of the Yes Men).

Why is my government’s performance so troublesome to me? Having spent two weeks in the Arctic this summer, I experienced the land, so far distanced from the stereotypical images of the Arctic I had imagined pre-expedition. The image of snow, ice and polar bears is one of rapid decline. With frightening predictions that polar ice will be non-existent within 30 years, this is no longer an issue we can ignore.

On my expedition this summer, the drastic changes occurring in the North became particularly evident during our hike to the Arctic Circle through Auyuittuq National Park – which means “the land that never melts” – (near Pangnirtung). I had mentally prepared myself for snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Although we crossed frozen rivers that were run-off from the glaciers we could barely see at the tops of mountains, this was as close to snow as we could get.

Seeing this beautiful but so unexpected land was a huge wake-up call. Getting sunburned swimming at the Arctic Circle was my breaking point. How can we continue to watch our world melt away? Having talked to the Elders and the children in Pangnirtung, we saw the unbearable effects of climate change, and could see how climate change is no longer just an environmental issue but also an issue of a way of life, of traditions and of culture.

Canada is known as a promoter of cultures, a peaceful and welcoming country, but with our government’s unwillingness to protect its own citizens, can we still live up to this reputation? The people of the North play such a vital role in our country and we should be taking what’s happening in the poles as a warning beacon as to what will happen in the rest of the world.

Yesterday morning the meeting – the last meeting that all of civil society from Canada could attend as access started to be limited as of today, and will become increasingly limited as heads of state and their attachés arrive in Copenhagen and at the conference center (the Secretariat accredited 40, 000 people while the center has space for just 15, 000) – was a full house. All the seats were filled and many more stood and listened from the back of the room. The important part was the sheer diversity of Canadians in the room, from farmers to steelworkers to NGOs to indigenous peoples; youth, professionals, academics, politicians, and faith groups alike. These people came from all parts of Canada, East to West, North to South, and from rural regions as well as cities. Not everyone in that room would call themselves an environmentalist, and their concerns were not limited to the environment. They could not be put into a box called ‘Environmentalists’, ‘Greenpeace’, ‘Activists’, or ‘Treehuggers’. They represented so well that all Canadians are concerned about climate change and feel that the government is not fairly representing their concerns or values at these negotiations and in domestic climate policy.

A man from a labour union in Quebec emotionally asked if Michael Martin (chief negotiator) and other members of CAN DEL has considered those that will be disadvantaged in Canada as a result of the insistence by Canada that we use a 2006 base year. His reason was that many have significantly reduced their emissions between 1990 (the year recognized internationally as a base year for emissions reductions) and 2006, and would therefore have to reduce significantly more, and at a greater price, than industries that ignored climate change have only just started, or will soon be starting, to regulate their emissions.

I was empowered in that instance because I realized that Canadians want change. Canadians do not want to be embarrassed by their government’s policies on climate change, as David Miller, Mayor of Toronto, stated he was on Friday. Canada’s do not want to obstruct the negotiations, or garner a bad international reputation.

I started to wonder, who exactly was being represented by our country’s position in Copenhagen – whose interests? Surely not my own. As a young person I can see that the inaction of the government of Canada today and this week in Copenhagen will have serious repercussions on … my future, as cliché as that may sound. I cannot stand for a government that does not represent its people, who has fundamentally violated the contract between citizens and leaders.

I came to the briefing this morning with a question: If the government’s positions clearly does not represent the concerns of youth, students, workers, academics, municipal leaders, provincial leaders, athletes, professionals, indigenous peoples, immigrants – and so many other Canadians- who precisely does their position benefit, and whose voice are they being swayed by?

The answer? Michael Martin responded that the question was of a political nature and therefore not his to answer. This, I knew. Martin speaks to policy and just policy. But, Martin is the only person we have access to. Our representatives, who are supposed to be accountable to Canadians, Prime Minister Harper, and Minister Prentice, have not confirmed a meeting with Canadian Youth. Further, the problem is not specifically policy-related. Rather, it is a question of accountability. The House of Commons voted in favour of a motion for better a emissions reductions target, and a recent poll states that 74% of Canadians ‘believe the government must go further in the fight against climate change and adopt a more ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reductions target’ (a poll by Léger Marketing released on Thursday by Équiterre).

Canadians must be given the chance to express their concerns to the government, and it is unacceptable that the only person we have access to is one who says quite clearly that he is not accountable to us, but rather, accountable to the government. We cannot have our concerns addressed by a person who is not accountable to Canadians.

Story by Kari Hergott,  Fort Providence Métis

“Climate Change is a Human Issue. Our lives have already been altered by the impacts of the climate crisis. Climate change has affected our health, our food security and our cultural identities”

Excerpt from the Declaration of the Young Leaders’ Summit on Northern Climate Change, August 2009

I am not an activist, nor am I an environmentalist. I am an Indigenous person whose culture and livelihood is distinctly and completely connected to the land, environment and animals around me.  I am Métis, and I belong to one of the three constitutionally recognized Canadian Aboriginal groups.  I live on the banks of the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, Canada.  The river, North America’s longest river, is an intricate part of Aboriginal culture and livelihood.

Question, how did a small town Métis girl from a community of 800 people end up in Copenhagen? And on the front lines of the December 12th march to the Bella Centre? Why am I here?  I am Aboriginal, Indigenous to Canada and extremely proud of it so it is my responsibility to ensure my voice is heard.  My ancestors have fought long and hard to allow me to live my life the way I do today.  In many ways, my involvement at the COP15 and Climate Change discussions allow me to honour their hard work, and ensure that there is a bright future for my own unborn children.

The tar sands are becoming one of the loudest and strongest concerns by Canadian youth, Indigenous peoples of the world and activists alike.  Canada has a long and cruel history of condemning the fate of our Aboriginal people, the Tar Sands and their support of it is another item to add to the list.  I am concerned about the Tar Sands, not only because of the environmental damage it is, and will continue to cause but also because of the direct impact it has on human lives.  Fort Chipewyan, Alberta is a community directly impacted; their people, their animals and their cultures are at stake.

The deadly chemicals in the air, the deadly chemicals in the water are horrific and stealing lives.  Not only are the Aboriginals of the affected communities, friends and relatives, they are fellow Canadians who deserve all the help in the world to ensure they survive.  Cancer is an awful disease, I am sure we all know someone who has been affected by this horrible disease.  The residents of Northern Alberta, around the tar sands development and those lives downstream are suffering from alarming cancer rates.  No one deserves that fate, no one!

My small community though is starting to show alarming rates of stomach cancer.  In the past year we have had 6 Aboriginal community members diagnosed, and sadly 3 of our Elders have passed on and now watch us from above.  It is such a tragedy that a highly respected elder from my community at 95, was diagnosed and passed on within a month of diagnosis.  Where is the logic that people who have survived some of biggest hardships in life (Residential School, Flu Pandemics, Colonization to name a few) end their lives not peacefully but in pain?  Why are my Elders, our Elders becoming so ill?

My community and region is at this weird “middle” state.  To our south and to our North our fate is being lived out in front of us.  The horrific realities our friends in Northern Alberta are facing, are terrifying me that if our country does not move forward and change its policy and their reliance on the Tar Sands, my community will be the next to suffer that fate.  Not only mine, but the entire Mackenzie River watershed that in turn will affect all of our communities.  Our neighbours to the North in the Arctic have been dealing with the changing environment and face the daily effects of climate change.  Traditional practices are being affected, for example if the ice is not freezing the way it has for hundreds of years, the ability to travel is limited and can become dangerous.  There are so many factors affecting human lives, and cultures.  It has been an honour to be surrounded by people who share the vision of protecting human lives, and cultures before non-renewable resource development.  Let us hope that our efforts will be heard throughout the walls of the Bella Centre, and into the hearts and consciousness of our leaders!

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What young people demand

From the Canadian Youth Delegation to Copenhagen

• Shut the tar sands down – we call for an immediate moratorium on all tar sands development
• A just transition for workers must be assured – all tar sands workers must be retrained and given support to thrive in a new, green economy
• Respect indigenous rights – respect and protect traditional territory
• Acknowledge the health concerns of impacted communities and take immediate action to address themYouth action inside the climate negotiations expressing solidarity with impacted communities

Youth action inside the climate negotiations expressing solidarity with impacted communities