Protesters demand N.L. premier take climate change seriously in wake of wildfires

In the wake of this summer's devastating wildfires, protesters are calling for the province to take climate change seriously, with more definitive action.

A vocal group of about 20 protesters chanted "Tony, wake up! Wake up, Tony!" on the steps of Confederation Building in St. John's on Friday.

Fridays for Future St. John's is part of a global youth-led climate action movement. Their main demand for the newly-elected Premier Tony Wakeham is for the government to declare a state of climate emergency in the province and take preventative measures against likely climate disasters to come.

"Obviously they say ... that they know climate change is happening but they're doing nothing to actually ... do something," said Sophie Shoemaker, co-president of Fridays for Future's local chapter.

"We invest in so much oil and gas here in Newfoundland and Labrador and the new government ... has no plans to diminish that,” Shoemaker said. “If anything, they're trying to increase it."

Just last month, Tony Wakeham was on the provincial campaign trail that led him and the PCs to victory. At a press conference on Oct. 9, CBC reporter Maddie Ryan asked how the party’s platform balances the province’s climate goals if a federal emissions cap were to be lifted.

“As long as the world has a demand for oil, we should be the ones producing it,” Wakeham said. “Instead, our federal government decides to cap emissions on it and try to force our industry out of business."

The oil and gas emissions cap has been up in the air since the federal budget was tabled on Nov. 4. The budget said it would make plans to reduce Canada’s emissions through methods, like “effective” carbon pricing and expanding carbon capture and storage, so that the oil and gas emissions cap would no longer be required.

At the press conference in October, Wakeham was then asked if last summer's blazing wildfires have made him consider stepping back from his promised investment in oil and gas projects in the province.

"I don't believe the two are related," Wakeham said. "We know that climate change is happening [...] but simply walking away from oil production off our coast, I don't think that's going to have an impact on that particular situation.”

During the campaign, the PC party promised to hire 50 additional wildland firefighters and committed to repairing the province’s fifth water bomber.

At Friday's protest, high school student Sheza Chowdhury said watching her friends spend their summer under an evacuation notice with go-bags packed changed something for her.

"Last year ... the wildfires felt so distant, like in other provinces and stuff but like, this year, it felt like it really came home and it was so close to us that, like, climate change, actually, like, the consequences are starting to matter,” Chowdhury said.