The
Toronto-area camp is the second of five Greenpeace is running
across the country. The action camp, at Camp Scugog, near Port
Perry, runs until Sunday. About 70 people from throughout Ontario
will train as ''climate defenders'' and learn how to undertake acts
of civil disobedience to pressure the federal government to become
a leader on climate change in the lead-up to the UN climate
conference in Copenhagen in December-considered the most important
environmental meeting of our generation.
"Our planet
is under attack and stands at the brink of climatic collapse. The
Harper government is gambling with the future or our children, and
it's time for those who care about the planet to raise the ante."
said Dave Martin, Climate and Energy Coordinator with Greenpeace,
Canada. "Denial is not a solution to the climate crisis; we need
real solutions. Millions of people are already threatened by
catastrophic climate change and that number will rise the longer we
wait. We need action now."
The first
action camp in Alberta in August focused on the tar sands, the
fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Since
then, Greenpeace used civil disobedience on September 15 to block a
mining operation at Shell's open-pit mine in the tar sands and call
attention to this climate crime.
"The tar
sands are causing irreversible destruction to the environment - to
water, to forests, to the atmosphere," said Dave Martin. "In
addition, they are impacting the health of downstream First Nation
communities. It's time to stand up for a new green world that
doesn't sacrifice our environment or our communities. In the
tradition of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, we must directly
challenge a government that refuses to take the climate change
crisis seriously."
While other
world leaders spoke at the recent United Nations Climate Summit in
New York, Canadian Prime Stephen Harper had lunch with the Mayor of
New York. The following day, Harper was accused of favouring donuts
over diplomacy, when he opened a Tim Hortons shop in Ontario rather
than attending the General Assembly. It has been widely speculated
that the government's support for the tar sands is the reason for
Canada being a laggard in international climate
negotiations.
Greenpeace
will hold climate action camps in Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver
in October and November.
-30-
Media are invited to join the camp and meet participants:
Friday October 2
- 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday October.
3 - 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Sunday
October 4 - 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
For more information, please contact:
Catherine Vézina,
Media and Public Relations Officer, (514) 212-5749
Dave Martin,
Climate & Energy Campaigner, (416) 627-5004
Camp Scugog
(direct line to the camp): (905)-986-4401