Youth Deliver their Demands to 24 Sussex

Apr 22, 2011

Youth Deliver their Demands to 24 Sussex

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Ottawa - At 11:00 a.m. this morning, members of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition delivered a list of 5 demands to 24 Sussex Dr. addressed to the future resident of the home. They were prevented from entering the premises by RCMP officers, leaving the demands in their hands to pass on. Despite invitations sent earlier this week, neither Stephen Harper, or any representative were on hand to accept the demands. Simultaneously, a group in Toronto delivered the demands to the residence of Jack Layton, leader of the NDP. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was handed the demands at an event in Montreal yesterday.

The demands are the result of over two months of consultation with youth across Canada, and outline 5 calls from the young generation to create the future and planet that they wish to inherit. The demands include references for the need for inter-generational justice, climate justice for those people most impacted by a changing climate in Canada and around the globe (and by those projects fueling climate change), the need for a just transition to a new green economy, and the need to bring Canada to a zero carbon emitter.

"When I imagine my future, pipeline spills, inequality, drought, and displacement already being felt by so many across the world, is not what I hope for,” explains Tasha Peters, Ottawa Campaigns Coordinator with the CYCC, “Instead, I hope for community, health, fairness, and dignity for all peoples. Today, youth are uniting to say that regardless of who is elected on May 2nd, survival is the only choice we will accept." 


Youth are calling on each party leader to sign onto the demands by November 4th, at which time a delegation of youth from aross Canada will head to parliament to get the signatures of any leaders who have not signed on. The CYCC have promised to increase pressure in the coming months, pledging that no matter who is elected on May 2nd, they will create the world they wish to see.

A full version of the demands can be found here.