If you want to have your voice heard, sometimes it helps to come prepared with a couple of megaphones.
That’s exactly what members of the Simcoe County Environmental Youth Alliance (SCEYA) did this afternoon.
Joined by approximately 50 other people of all ages donning signs and holding megaphones, they descended on Barrie City Hall on Sunday afternoon to demand council listen to youth voices as it embarks on the development of the city’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan.
SCEYA is made up of more than 20 young people from across Simcoe County advocating for climate justice, and organized the climate strike in downtown Barrie as part of the #ImagineBarrie campaign.
“Two years ago, the City of Barrie had declared the climate crisis was a state of emergency and they promised to bring climate action to the forefront of their attention, but since that declaration we haven’t really seen significant progress to refocus policy, and to ensure the city is being accountable for what it’s doing,” said 17-year-old Emily Goodson, who took over as president of SCEYA a year ago.
Previous plans have primarily focused on getting individuals to take personal action and be greener, she says, but that’s not ideally what a city plan would incorporate.
“For us, we want to see the new greenhouse gas reduction plan to be refocused to ensure it tackles significant policy changes and the implementation of city-wide green transitions," Goodson said.
"When we are working toward climate justice and addressing the climate crisis, we can’t only work toward remedial action that temporarily fixes previous problems. We also need to work toward sustainable development of cities," she added.
Karly Stevenson, 16, and her friends came from Alliston to attend the rally, which included a march to Meridian Place in downtown Barrie.
"As one of the biggest cities in Simcoe County, we can further help other municipalities plan how to construct municipal action to decrease our carbon emissions and create more sustainable societies," she told BarrieToday.
Kaia Pluimsimon, 13, and 12-year-old Darcy Scott — both from Barrie — also attended the rally and said they both believe climate action is an important thing for people of all ages to address.
"I think climate action is so important, and if the government isn't going to get it then youth will get it," Pluimsimon said.
Another important thing to consider when addressing the climate crisis, Goodson told BarrieToday prior to the rally, is acknowledging that it has been caused by systems of oppression in the first place.
“One of the major focuses of SCEYA and this rally is to be active in dismantling those systems of oppression in order to be successful in tackling the resolution after the climate crisis," she said.
Goodson says she hopes people walk away from the rally with the ability to understand that youth are in fact powerful and do have a strong voice.
“If we aren’t being advocated for, we will advocate for ourselves and make sure that everyone is considering our perspectives and our valuable opinions,” she said. “We the youth are the biggest stakeholders in the climate crisis. Our future is in the hands of the adults and we don’t have a choice about whether we want to pursue climate justice — but adults do.
"We can fight as hard as we want, but ultimately it’s up to the adults to decide if they’re going to listen to us, which is pretty scary.”
Young people across the globe have been “screaming to be heard” for years, Goodson continued, adding they can only hope through actions like the one they held today, that someone will be listening who can support their voices and their future.
“We hope other youth, and even adult allies who attend the rally, will gain additional perspectives and help us voice our concerns. We also hope that people take away that inter-sectionality is also a really big thing when it comes to the climate crisis. Climate justice isn’t just about the climate and working toward a more sustainable future, it’s also about working with marginalized and oppressed communities against systems of oppression," she said.
For more information, or to stay involved after the rally, Goodson suggested visiting SCEYA’s website or Instagram and taking a look at the Action Toolkit they’ve created, which outlines and describes individual actions anyone can take as well as recommended next steps to help further the change they are trying to make.
