These young northerners are pushing the N.W.T. to do more about climate change

Members of the N.W.T. Climate Change Youth Council have spent the last year and a half adding their voices to discussions about how the environment is changing, and what can be done about it. 

The council, made up of young people aged 18 to 30 from across the territory, provides input and advice to the N.W.T.'s Climate Change Council which, in turn, helps to inform the territory on its climate and environment programs. 

For example, the group has recommended the territory increase its emission reduction target, lift the 20 per cent cap on renewable energy that can be generated in communities, and legislate climate accountability for industrial projects. 

The youth council is also bringing its perspective to local, territorial, national and international conferences, and a few members are preparing to head to the inaugural Arctic Youth Conference in Tromsø, Norway, in late January. 

Officially launched in May 2023, the council has 12 seats: two for each the Beaufort Delta, the Dehcho, the North Slave, the South Slave, the Sahtu and Yellowknife. As the first two-year term draws closer to its end in the spring, the council is looking to recruit new members in the spring and currently has just seven representatives. 

A few of the current members spoke to CBC about how they got involved with the council, and what they hope to achieve.

Julia Gyapay, representing the South Slave

Julia Gyapay, who is based in Hay River, N.W.T., is the council's co-chair. 

Gyapay said she works as a health scientist, bridging the gap between the environment and human health, and that is the perspective she brings to the council and its work. 

"Mental health is a big piece and something that we've seen more increasing awareness around … particularly with eco-anxiety, and then thinking about the impacts that climate-related disasters have on mental health in the North," she said. 

As for how the territory is doing when it comes to addressing climate change, Gyapay said it's exciting to see progress – but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

"As youth, we have a lot of energy and a lot of experience and knowledge to share to be able to keep this momentum going," she said. 

Gyapay said the group is also still figuring out its relationship with the territorial government. 

The youth council was created by the N.W.T. Climate Change Council, is "administered" by the N.W.T.'s climate unit, but it is arms-length of the government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).

She said the council is grateful for the territory's administrative support, but that there have been hurdles in terms of the council's ability to "do the things we'd like to do and on the timeline that we would like to do." 

"It's been a lot of learning in terms of who are we and what do we want to do and what role should the GNWT play and what role do we want the GNWT to play in terms of this council?"

Gyapay and two other members – James Thomas and the council's chair, Reegan Junkind – make up the group heading to Norway. She said they'll be doing an interaction session there, sharing their experiences of the 2023 wildfires and exploring climate-related disaster preparedness and resilience. 

Mary Ann Sylvester, representing the Dehcho

Mary Ann Sylvester, who also lives in Hay River, represents the Dehcho region on the council. 

She said it's been refreshing to be surrounded by people who are thinking about climate change like she is. When she applied, Sylvester said she didn't know other people who were concerned about it.

"None of my peers even spoke about it, so it just kind of, it caught my interest because of my background and how I was raised," said Sylvester. 

Sylvester said she spent a lot of time in the bush with her grandparents growing up, where she "soaked up" her Dene culture like a sponge. She said her grandfather, who has since passed, predicted that the flooding in Hay River was going to happen. 

"Those elders, they have a lot of knowledge about climate change," she said. 

Sylvester said something she loves about the council is how members can share their different experiences of climate change with one another. One experience she's shared, she said, was of travelling to the place near Fort Simpson where her grandfather was born. 

The journey, which happened by boat, meant a lot – but she noticed that the water on the river was low.

"I was kind of thinking, like, am I gonna be able to go boat up here again?" 

One change Sylvester is hoping to see, moving forward, is that the council expands to include more than two representatives from each region. 

James Thomas, representing Yellowknife 

James Thomas is currently the only member on the council representing Yellowknife, the city in which he was born and raised. 

Thomas is studying law at the University of New Brunswick, and plans to continue his training in Yellowknife after one more semester at school. He's also done an internship at the N.W.T. 's Legislative Assembly, and said he adds "more of the technical and policy" perspective to the council's discussions. 

For example, he said he suggested presenting to the territory's standing committee on economic development and environment a few months ago. He said that public briefing sparked interest from MLAs. 

"Climate change is kind of the big policy issue of our time," he said. "Every decision that's coming forward these days kind of has that lens to it – how can we implement this without more emissions, or harming the environment?" 

As for what the territory can do to decrease the greenhouse gases it's emitting into the atmosphere which, globally, is the leading cause of the changing climate, Thomas said that the energy transition is "very important." 

That involves getting communities off diesel-run generators, and could also include connecting electricity grids to each other and even to the grid in southern Canada. 

"We're kind of in the implementation phase of actually getting to go and do things and submit our opinions on some of the government's policies," he said. "We're really kind of getting rolling right now."