The Martlet

Climate change is a growing issue for many governments, but one group of students at UVic think Canada’s leaders could be doing quite a bit better.

Calling themselves the “Climate Crew” the group has been meeting every Monday at 12:45 p.m. in front of the Petch fountain in order to proclaim their message: climate change affects all Canadians, and the youth of Canada want to see this become the number-one issue for politicians.

The group was started by UVic student Jamie Biggar, a fifth-year environmental studies student. Since starting the group only seven weeks ago, Biggar has seen it expand to campuses across the country, including McGill, Dalhousie, Winnipeg and four campuses in B.C. (Simon Fraser, University of B.C., University of Northern B.C. and UVic).

“The whole point of these groups is to show the Canadian government that the youth of Canada see climate change as an issue, and want them to take a leadership role in the fast-approaching Copenhagen Conference,” he explained.

At the Copenhagen conference, the leaders of member countries in the United Nations hope to establish a new global accord on climate change, replacing the aging Kyoto accord.

If you ask Biggar, simply attending these talks is not enough. He wants to see the Canadian government do more than participate — he wants Canada to lead the way on the climate change issue, and he says that should start with new national legislation, specifically Bill C-311.

Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, would require the Canadian government to bring emissions 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, with a longer range target to bring emissions 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

The Climate Crew recently came under the umbrella of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (CYCC), a non-partisan coalition of youth groups from across Canada, whose goal it is to present a united youth front on the issue of climate change.

Climate Crew action takes place every Monday at lunch, and is focused on getting in touch with government officials.

On the Nov. 2 meeting, every attendee phoned the offices of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice or Chair of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee James Bezan.

Although (not surprisingly) no one actually spoke to the individuals in question, Biggar is quick to stress the importance of these phone calls.

“Every phone call that is received by our elected officials is carefully tracked, as is the message that is expressed in that call,” he said. “When one person calls a government office with an issue, he is actually representing numerous others who share that same concern.”

The Climate Crew has continued to grow every week leading up to the Copenhagen Conference, and Biggar hopes that this trend continues.

“We would like to see more people coming out every week to take part in our ‘flash dances’ and in phoning our elected officials. It’s 10 minutes, but it makes a bigger difference then you might imagine.”

For more information on the Climate Crew, or to get involved, check out their Facebook page.