Dear friends,

This past year I saw something begin to rise. Across Canada and around the globe we saw young people stand up and demand the right to build the just, liveable future of their dreams. My heart was filled with inspiration, and I began to believe that we might just have what it takes to change the world. This year, its time to prove it.

But we need your help.

Over the past year the CYCC has made building the youth climate movement across Canada our first priority, organizing a nation-wide training program that trained over 200 young climate justice organizers. We also launched Wings of Change, a by-youth-for-youth climate justice education project that we want to reach over 10,000 people with by then end of this year.

The fruits of this labour were seen in at COP17 in Durban, South Africa. The Canadian Youth Delegation held our country’s feet to the fire, letting Canada and the world know that our generation will not go quietly while our future hangs in the balance

But this is justbeginning.

As Wings of Change takes off this year, we are also expanding our training project, planning to hold trainings this spring and summer, all building towards one of our most ambitious plans; to bring hundreds of youth together from across Canada for PowerShift Canada 2012.

To do all this we need your help.

The CYCC is a small organization that does big things, and your support is what gives us the power to fight for our future.

Please help us take back our future.

Sincerely,

Cameron Fenton

by Chris Bisson and Robin Tress

Tuesday, Environment Minister Peter Kent announced Canada’s stancegoing into the UN Climate Negotiations in Durban. The Government of Canada will be committing $148.8 million to domestic adaptation programming, most of which will likely go towards environmental research and monitoring, and will only sign onto an international agreement if all major emitters are required to make emissions cuts. Citing the domestic and international focus on economic recovery, jobs and prosperity, the government was happy to announce its ‘straightforward, practical approach’ to domestic climate change adaptation. (more…)

Want to take the next step to get involved with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and the Wings of Change campaign?

Great! We are recruiting youth to coordinate the roll out the of this campaign in their communities across Canada.

As the local coordinator for your community, city or campus you will help to  connect already trained facilitators with local teachers and schools as well as other opportunities to hold a Wings of Change workshop in your area.

Coordinators will gain valuable experience working in a youth run environmental organization, as well as with coordinating the implementation of a nation-wide project with a goal of educating well over 10,000 other young people across Canada.

What we’re looking for:

• some knowledge of and interest in stopping climate change
• an understanding of the idea of climate justice and anti-oppression
• experience with fundraising and event coordination
• experience coordinating volunteers

If you have any of these qualities, or are just interested in getting some experience in them, drop us a line!

Recently, media outlets across Canada sent out a call for people to submit questions to be asked to the federal party leaders of Canada during this year’s national televised leader’s debate. While youth are being called on by politicians, the media and civil society groups to vote, we are being called to do so without being heard or listened to, this needs to change.

Take action to put our generation on the agenda of the leader’s debate!

It’s easy, just copy the email below, add a personal message and send it to question@electiondebate2011.ca (CC info@ourclimate.ca so we can keep track!).

Email:

Whenever an election looms in Canada, politicians, the media and civil society all begin to focus on the youth vote, and apparent youth voter apathy. Across the board they conclude that youth are at fault for their lack of interest in federal politics, placing the blame on the victims of a political system that ignores our calls, dismisses our voices and actively dis-empowers youth from taking an interest. This year, we are calling on you to help us change that by allowing us to speak truth to power during this year’s federal leaders debate, and pose a question directly to the leaders.

As the arctic is melting before our eyes and small island nations disappear beneath rising sea levels, we see our government ignoring the greatest crisis of our time. We are seeing over the tipping point, and knowing that this is the world in which we live, and this is the world that we, as youth, are inheriting. To our generation, this is the world we refuse to pass on to our children.

As long as the federal leaders ignore this, they ignore our generation.

Our question is,

Youth know that the enormous challenges we currently face are also powerful opportunities, and that the solutions to the climate and energy crises will also pave the way to recovery from our current economic crisis, through the creation of jobs, a renewed investment in arts, culture and education, and a shift towards a new system that reflects the needs of our generation. What will you do to turn the changes we need into realities, to create the clean, live-able and just future that youth in Canada are calling for?

Signed
Name
Age
On behalf of the CYCC
For more info please email director@ourclimate.ca or call 514-467-6413

By Daniel T’seleie

Earlier this month I had the dubious honour of representing CYCC in lobby meetings with members of Parliament in Ottawa. The meetings, organized by Climate Action Network Canada, were focused on eliminating the roughly $1.4 billion worth of annual federal subsidies to big oil companies and stopping the federal government’s lobbying against clean energy legislation in other countries out of fear that these laws may impede Canada’s ability to export tar sands oil.

Reactions to our requests were mixed. One Conservative MP was an outright denier of anthropogenic climate change. Her comments about “however old you think the earth is” also hinted of creationism. Needless to say, I gave up on making any progress in that meeting fairly quickly.

My meeting with a New Democrat was interesting (he had a lot of good information to share) but I often feel like I’m preaching to the choir with that party.

With the Liberals I felt like I had a chance to make some progress. After our pitches about fossil fuel subsidies and pro-tar sands lobbying I decided to ask them to do something a little different, something not related to policy. I asked a couple Liberals if they would start speaking frankly about how we, as a country, need to transition off fossil fuels over the coming decades. Regardless of the policy decisions we make to achieve this goal we need to stop burning fossil fuels, and having our federal politicians (and party leaders) acknowledge this publicly is something I would like to see.

Their answers were noncommittal.

This is in stark contrast to some wise words I heard last night from Francois Paulette, a respected elder and former Chief from the Smith’s Landing Treaty 8 First Nation. He likened the executives of some major oil and pipeline companies to abusers of alcohol, in the sense that each of these types of people are “spiritually bankrupt.” These executives, he said, “have no connection with the land, their connection is with the money.”

I don’t expect any MPs in Ottawa to comment on the moral fibre of oil executives, but I would like to hear them speak about how we need a future where the oil industry simply does not exist.

We can’t solve the climate crisis unless we stop burning fossil fuels. We need a future without oil wells, without offshore drilling, and without tar sands developments. We need our politicians to accept this reality and help us start a national conversation about how we will get to where we need to be.

If our politicians aren’t willing to talk about this, if they aren’t willing to help us shape a vision for the future we as young people want for ourselves and our planet, then maybe it’s a conversation we need to have without them.

Daniel T’seleie lives in Yellowknife where he acts as the CYCC’s NWT Regional Coordinator, he can be reached at daniel@ourclimate.ca