A group of mostly teens marched from Holland Park to Liberal MP Randeep Sarai’s constituency office in Whalley Friday to protest the recent throne speech.
The event was part of the Global Day of Action, which included the slogan “Not Going Back.”
Global Day of Action is part of Fridays for Future, which advocates for better climate action.
READ ALSO: Surrey rallies for change in global climate strike, Sept. 20, 2020
“Today is the Global Day of Action, as well in Canada, we decided to use this time to launch our Day of Action for ‘Not Going Back,’ which is a movement of young people across the country who are demanding a just recovery from Justin Trudeau,” said one of the organizers Naisha Khan, a Grade 12 student at Guildford Park Secondary School.
She said the group, which included members of the Sustainabiliteens from Surrey, Langley and Delta, heard the throne speech “and we are not happy.”
“Youth really, really desperately need a just recovery that has three key demands… people, not corporations; dismantling racism and colonialism; and treating the climate emergency like the emergency,” said Naisha.
“We recognize that our fight is very intersectional. We’re not just fighting for climate, we’re fighting for those marginalized communities that continue to experience injustices and we know these injustices were continuing before COVID-19 and we cannot just return to normal. Normal is a crisis for so many people.”
READ ALSO: Liberals reach deal with NDP on COVID-19 aid bill, likely averting election, Sept. 25, 2020
READ ALSO: Liberals vow wage-subsidy extension to 2021, revamp of EI system in throne speech, Sept. 23, 2020
Wednesday’s (Sept. 23) throne speech which promised to extend COVID-19 subsidies to summer 2021, acknowledging the economic situation facing many employers is still fraught.
And for workers who lose their jobs, the throne speech also promises to put everyone under the employment insurance system, making it the only vehicle for benefits for hard-hit workers even if they previously didn’t qualify for the decades-old program.
The Liberal throne speech introduced Wednesday needs the support of at least one of the major opposition parties for the minority government to survive a confidence vote, or else Canada could head into a federal election as parts of the country are already in a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
– With files from Katya Slepian and The Canadian Press
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