“1, 2, 3, 4 Climate Change is At Our Door”: #EndFossilFuels Climate Action March at StFX

On Friday, September 15, 2023, the StFX campus and Antigonish community members marched for the global #EndFossilFuels movement. The event was organized by the “Antigonish League of People Advocating for Climate Action” (ALPACA), which is also a student society at X (ALPACA StFX). For context, the #EndFossilFuels movement is a “historical mobilization” that “renews and reinforces the globally coordinated efforts focused on ending the era of fossil fuels”, said in a statement on the official website (fightfossilfuels.net).

“The scale of this mobilization and the urgency of the moment underscore the devastating impacts of recent record-breaking heat, deadly floods, and increased extreme weather events”, the statement continues. Cities across Canada as well as cities in the U.S., South America, Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa, participated. Some of those cities had a large and active student population, such as Antigonish.

The event began with students, faculty and community members assembling on the concrete outside of Mulroney Hall, on the side closest to Notre Dame Avenue. At 12 p.m. on the day of the strike, some students left their lectures early, and certain professors assigned attendance of the event to their students for a grade. Students from Dr. Matthew Anderson’s class “Religion and the Environmental Crisis” (RELS 221) were asked to attend, as were students from an unspecified Climate and Environment course.

I spoke to a few students who had spent their summer on the western side of Canada, including Ontario. “At least fifty percent of our planting days were done in full smoke,” said Charlotte Watson, a third-year Biology student who spent her summer tree planting in BC amidst the ongoing wildfires. When I asked a StFX faculty member from the Sociology department why she decided to attend the event, she stated that “it was always important. But with kids, it puts everything into perspective”. She was referring to the fact that much of the environment that we enjoy now might not be enjoyable for future generations given the rapidly changing climate and henceforth long-term environmental destruction, as I gathered from our conversation afterwards. She had also brought her two young children, 3 and 5 years of age respectively, along with her to the event. They were found creating their own protest posters only a few feet away and later attended the march. Following the initial assembly, two speeches were given. 

The first speech was given by Victoria Tweedie-Pitre, a fourth-year honours Biology and Chemistry student from the North-West Territories. Victoria is an active member of the StFX community and cares a lot about her community in the NWT. She gave an opening speech highlighting the devastating wildfires, which occurred in the spring and summer near her hometown. The speech was compelling and forthright.

For today’s record (September 27, 2023), the fires are still burning and continuing to devastate communities. In rural areas such as the NWT, and parts of BC and Alberta, the impacts are felt to an even greater extent given very limited exit points and diminishing nearby safety havens.

The second speech was given by Angus Kennedy, a fourth-year honours Biology student from Antigonish County. Angus is currently working on his honours thesis, is the captain of the StFX Men’s Rowing team, and is the president and founder of ALPACA. He gave a speech highlighting the urgency of the #EndFossilFuels movement and gave a run-down of some of ALPACA’s goals as well as the itinerary for the march. An exclusive interview with Angus will be featured in another edition of the Xaverian.

When the start of the march was announced, participants began shuffling along Notre Dame Avenue. We made our way down to St. Ninian’s street, and eventually made it to Main Street. We made our first official stop in front of the building containing Michelle Thompson’s office. Michelle Thompson is the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Antigonish, elected in 2021, and is a member of the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia. After continuing to chant words of protest prepared by student organizers, an official letter was delivered then and there to her office, addressed by ALPACA. The office of the Honourable Sean Fraser, member of parliament, and Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, was visited next. Again, a similar process occurred, and another letter addressed by ALPACA was delivered. Finally, we marched to the Antigonish Town Hall, and delivered the final letter from ALPACA to Mayor Laurie Boucher and Town Council. The letters highlight Antigonish as being especially vulnerable and urges for Antigonish to “move swiftly and boldly toward the goal of net zero”, to build resiliency, and to work with neighboring municipalities. 

Our march concluded when we returned to campus, after passing through Church Street and turning on to St. Ninian’s. I found the event to be inspiring, eye-opening, and felt a strong sense of community with other StFX students and Antigonish community members. In a heartfelt moment during the march, I spoke to a recognized Antigonish community member, Dr. John Graham-Pole, about his vegetable and flower garden. When we reached the topic of whether climate change had an impact on his crops, he told me that “each year, they grow better and better, and wider, because we love them more each year”.

The event was very well organized, and participation was strong from all who attended. Health and safety measures were taken seriously. StFX Safety and Security services were contacted in advance, marchers stayed on the sidewalks and followed traffic guidelines, and those with First-Aid training wore distinguishable bright pink caps. Students and community member marchers were respectful, conscientious, and well aware of their surroundings.

Students wishing to attend future marches and other events organized by ALPACA should join their student society, which can be found via Instagram: @alpaca.climateaction . A discord page is available as well, where most of the ALPACA society’s communication takes place. A link for the discord page can be found in their Instagram bio.