Much like climate change itself, it looks like climate action rallies aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The second downtown Penticton climate-centric rally in the past 16 days kicked off this afternoon at 1 pm when several dozen demonstrators began a chant- and song-filled walk along Main Street from the library to Gyro Park, where they listened to various speakers and even a little live music.
It was officialy called "Uproot the System," but onlookers could be forgiven for feeling a rather severe case of déjà vu. The Sept. 8 climate rally unfolded in precisely the same manner.
But a couple things kept this one unique. First, it was organized and populated predominately by youth, as a part of Future Canada, a group inspired by noted youth environmentalist Greta Thunberg.
Second, the skies were clear. On Sept 8, they were smoky and orangey as wildfires from near and far continued to make life miserable.
One of the kids today was 15-year-old Penticton resident Eden Bamford, who did a heck of a job addressing the faithful via megaphone in what she said was her first-ever public speaking engagement.
"I came here today," she told PentictonNow afterward, "because I have a very deep love for the earth, and I'm just scared of our future.
"So I had a chance to speak today, and I thought I'd take it. I've never done public speaking before, but I was going to take this chance and say my bit."
Bamford believes that if concerted action doesn't ramp up soon, "the earth won't be a very nice place to live."
"We're not going to see the sky, we're not going to have clean water, we're not going to be able to breathe. Everything on this earth will suffer."
Also on hand was Silas Ward of Oliver, who made the trip north with mom and siblings.
"Climate change is a very big problem in the world right now," he said. "Myself as a teenager, I'd love to have a world to live in when I'm older. And to do that we need to take action now. If we wait any longer, it'll be too big a problem to fix."
We asked Ward if today's rally would have been more impactful had its turnout approached that of the "Climate Strike" rally of Sept. 27 2019, the event that pulled 400 folks into downtown Penticton and seemed to galvanize students from all over the world, setting the stage for the annual rallies to follow -- like today's.
And he was quick to answer.
"Yes, it would. That would be amazing. The more the merrier, the louder it gets, and the more we can do. More people would have been amazing."
Still, the kids and the adults who supported them -- including environmental group First Things First Okanagan, a bunch of parents and MP Richard Cannings -- made another statement, attracted more media, and kept this most critical issue on the front burner.
Indeed, there was even talk at today's rally that the last Friday of every month will see some sort of climate-related event in Penticton.
You know what they say about the squeaky wheel…
