Young people flock to Queen's Park for mass climate change protest
Queen's Park is brimming this afternoon with hundreds of environmentally conscious youngsters who have a message for politicians such as Ontario Premier Doug Ford: Climate change can't be ignored.
Today's rally in Toronto is one of many taking place all over the globe right now as part of something called the "global youth climate strike movement."
"Inspired by the young Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, thousands of students around the world will be walking out of their classrooms to demand action on climate change," reads a message sent by organizers ahead of the event, which kicked off outside the provincial leglislature at 12:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
"Here in Toronto, students are on March break," the message continued, "But they, too, wish to add their voices to the growing #FridaysforFuture climate movement."
Groups from 123 different countries are staging mass demonstrations, according to the movement's 16-year-old Swedish founder Greta Thunberg—53 of them in Canada alone.
They're asking politicians for fast action against the global climate crisis by way of various creative signs, chants and actions.
Two of the speakers at today's Queen's Park event, Roy Bateman and Zoe Keary-Matzner, issued "late on climate action" slips to Ford and Ontario Environment Minister Rod Phillips back in January to drive the message home.
"In Australia, Europe, and the U.S.A., climate strikers will be holding rallies everywhere," reads a Facebook page for the Toronto event.
"Let's join them and show the world that we, too, are part of the global movement demanding urgent action on climate change."
