Greta Thunberg said: “How dare you pretend you are fit to govern?” For most of the years we’ve lived in this community, one or sometimes two political parties have held office at a provincial and federal level. Yet the best they can do in this election is point fingers and make empty promises they won’t keep.
Now in our 60s (almost 70 for Andy), we want to leave behind a world that is safe and fit for our children and grandchildren to live in — not one diminished in hope and opportunity because of an overpowering greed for money, which is also causing the rapid loss of other lifeforms and even putting our own human species at risk.
Like Greta we are angry, but also sad and ashamed that a 16-year-old girl and millions of children and youth have to hit the streets to demand that they have a future.
We adults are supposed to protect and nurture our young — help them build a future, not destroy it before their very eyes. At an event on climate change where we live, one youth stated: You know the science, so stop electing politicians who won’t do anything about climate change.
We must follow the young people’s lead by putting aside our own immediate needs for the immediate need of the coming generations to have a world that will support them. Just like our parents’ generation made sacrifices and fought a war so that we could survive, we need to honestly assess which individuals and platforms in this election will work to give our children a safe tomorrow that is worth living.
We have already voted, and Andy is now in Fredericton working to elect another woman from the Green Party to sit in Ottawa. How many of you will join us in electing an MP who will address climate change, and no longer pretend that business-as-usual politics or lip service to the issue without actually do anything will save the day? The choice is yours, but do you have the courage and conviction to vote for the change you know has to happen?
Andy Shadrack
and Gail Bauman
Kaslo