Nanaimo climate activists march for an end to fossil fuels

Georgie Holden, 12, her mother Karistina Holden, and grandmother Missi Hegyes at the Global March to End Fossil Fuels in Nanaimo, B.C. on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. Photo: Mick Sweetman, CHLY 101.7 FM.

On Friday over 100 people protested in downtown Nanaimo as part of the Global March to End Fossil Fuels in advance of the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York this Wednesday. It was one of dozens across Canada and hundreds of protests around the world.

Georgie Holden, 12, marched with her mother Georgie Holden, 12, her mother Karistina Holden, and grandmother Missi Hegyes from Maffeo Sutton Park to Nanaimo City Hall.

“I want to have a future,” Georgie said. “I've always wanted to be a storybook writer and I don't want my future to be taken away from me. I don't want it to be taken away from my children and my grandchildren.”

The march’s demands included no new fossil fuel projects, an end to subsidies, a rapid phase out of fossil fuel use, an end to “greenwashing” and for fossil fuel corporations to pay reparations.

Climate activist Derek Menard helped organize the local march.

“We know that emitting greenhouse gases are warming the planet,” he said. “We know that we need to stop that. We know that if we don't stop, it is going to make extreme weather and droughts, and floods and all host of other horrible things worse and worse on this planet to the point that it becomes unlivable.”

Nanaimo City Councillor, and former Green Party MP, Paul Manly told the crowd that he’s proud of his record on environmental issues.

“I say damn the torpedos,” he told the crowd. “I'm not ashamed of anything that I've done as a politician. I've stuck my neck out. I've said what I wanted to say, I voted the way I wanted to vote. [Let] the chips fall where they may.”

Manly says that the recent decision by city council to accelerate a Zero Carbon Step Code that requires strict emissions standards for new homes being built in the city was a small step towards lowering emissions but the province and federal government need to do the heavy lifting.

“What infuriates me is senior levels of government talking about climate change and the need for climate action,” he said. “But then continuing to build pipelines.”

Councillor Ben Gesselbaract, who attended the rally with his young son, says that it was the support of local climate activists that helped sway city councillors to pass the zero carbon step code.

“When Fortis came each time with a strong lobby, [with] a lot of misinformation, guess who showed up?” he asked the crowd. “This group showed up, filled the gallery, filled our email boxes, and you know what? That made a really easy decision for a lot of councillors.”

City councillor Hiliary Eastmure also attended the event.

Vancouver Island University student Jasmine Tomczyk told the crowd that she was marching because she was concerned about local food security.

“Nobody should go hungry in a world where we waste one-third of our food,” she said. “There's enough for everyone and they will convince you that we don't have the resources but we do. They just don't want to give it to us.”

Menard, who has been arrested multiple times in acts of civil disobedience such as blocking roadways to protest climate and forestry policies, says that food shortages could lead to social unrest.

“We are in a position right now where we are barreling toward that cliff of insufficient food for everybody on earth,” he said. And when people run out of food, violent protests happen.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.