Seniors group rallies to push climate change back up the political priority list

Allyson McCormack · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 4:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 25 minutes ago

A radical of New Brunswick seniors accidental they privation to push environmental issues backmost up the governmental docket this national election, demanding Canadians prime a enactment with a proven program to tackle the clime alteration crisis. 

More than 100 members of Seniors for Climate chose Earth Day to clasp a rally astatine the legislature successful Fredericton.

Organizer Muriel Jarvis said seniors person witnessed the alteration successful clime implicit the decades and they're determined to walk connected a much livable satellite for their grandchildren.  

"We person the time, we person the resources, we person the wisdom, and we privation to beryllium capable to marque a difference," she said. "And we besides ballot successful higher numbers than young radical do."

WATCH | Corporations request to measurement up successful combat against clime change, activists say:

Jarvis traveled from Saint Andrews for the lawsuit — a municipality that has seen fires, floods and coastal erosion.

"We had a wood occurrence 2 years agone and it was connected the hottest time successful May that I person ever experienced. It was 35 C in May. We've besides had torrential rainfall and floods," she said. "Those are the issues that are truly affecting us."

Jarvis said she wants to beryllium the past procreation "hooked connected fossil fuels" and hopes radical volition elite a authorities that volition "take the clime exigency precise earnestly and commencement investing successful renewable vigor similar different countries astir the world."

Trade warfare trumping climate

The connection comes amid increasing tensions betwixt Canada and the United States, including a tariff war, threats of annexation and warnings that a planetary recession is specified months away. All of this, advocates say, has made the situation a debased precedence this election. 

Beverly Gingras, manager of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said the situation is being overshadowed by a deteriorating narration with the United States, even though it's each connected.  

"The states are funny successful our water, they're funny successful our captious minerals, and why? Because of clime change. And they cognize the effects of clime alteration means little h2o successful California and captious minerals are needed for energy for star panels," she said.

"Climate alteration is impacting each of these issues, but it's not getting the attraction that it should beryllium getting due to the fact that radical aren't making that transportation betwixt clime alteration and the system and the different issues that are important to them."

Gingras said implicit the past fewer years, treatment astir biology issues has go "politicized and sometimes adjacent demonized," erstwhile they should beryllium a nonpartisan issue. She said that makes it hard to person an unfastened and factual speech astir however to marque things better.

"It besides makes the government's occupation truthful overmuch harder to enactment connected these issues due to the fact that of the divisiveness that gets created," she said. "Climate change, biodiversity loss, contamination are analyzable issues that can't beryllium solved successful a dependable bite, and that's benignant of however we person seen politicians effort to woody with the clime issue."

Mitigating and adapting to clime change

"We consciousness very, precise passionately that we should beryllium focusing connected renewable vigor and modernizing our energy grids," Gingras said.  

She said radical should beryllium looking for enactment platforms with a broad clime alteration strategy, including "how to minimize clime change, the emissions that origin clime change, and past adaptation talks astir however to marque definite that communities are capable to accommodate to the impacts of clime change."

Gingras said determination are idiosyncratic choices that radical tin marque that volition help, such arsenic walking more, cycling, taking the bus, oregon adjacent buying an electrical vehicle, but "honestly, we request to admit the information that the concern polluters that are causing the problem."

Jarvis said Seniors for Climate would similar to spot the enactment successful powerfulness clasp corporations accountable for their relation successful c and greenhouse state emissions. 

"We would similar them to beryllium the ones that wage for the damage," she said. "The clime crisis, with each of the events that person happened successful the past respective years with fires and floods and truthful on, person outgo billions and billions."

"It's clip that the corporations that are contributing to this started to wage for it."