Island protesters call on Trudeau government to act faster on climate change

About two dozen people calling for more urgent action on climate change rallied outside the Charlottetown hotel where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his caucus were finishing up a three-day retreat on Wednesday.

The protest comes as wildfires devastate parts of B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

Some of the people participating in the rally were carrying signs that said things like "Canada is Burning" and "There is No Strong Future on a Burning Planet." 

Among them was retired Green politician Darcie Lanthier, who said this is not a time for "half-measures."

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In its climate plan, the federal government said it is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

But Lanthier said the government hasn't done enough to help solve the climate crisis.

"You can't just keep kicking it down the road and expect to actually accomplish anything," she said. "I would like to have them acknowledge that this is more important [and] deserves more consideration than they're giving it."

Lanthier worries P.E.I. is particularly susceptible to climate change.

"Sea-level rise is a huge, huge risk to Prince Edward Island," she said. "I would like this Island to still be here in 100 years and on this path, it's not going to be like that."

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Eddie Childs, an environmental studies student, said it's important to keep raising awareness of climate change.

"I care a lot about the ecology that we have here in Canada and Prince Edward Island," he said. "I worry about the impacts over the next 50 years and how that's going to change, what the downstream effects of that are going to be."