You could spend today’s lunch hour in a food court, making tedious small talk with co-workers. Or you could make a massive political statement.
Today is the Global Climate Wake-Up Call, an international day of action that will prompt hundreds of thousands of citizens all over the planet to come together for five-minute flash mobs — all in the hopes of grabbing the attentions of world leaders ahead of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
Greg Boyle is the national director of the Sierra Youth Coalition and the organizer of today’s Parliament Hill Wake-Up Call in Ottawa, which will include participants forming a human clock.
“Global leaders have only three months to get their act together and sign a strong climate treaty in Copenhagen,” Boyle explains via email. “We need to show the government of Canada that we are sick of their inaction. By making a human clock, we are making it clear that the countdown is on. We are running out of time.”
Julia Morgan, a freelance writer, was driven to organize a Wake-Up Call in Toronto after she literally lost sleep over climate change: “That sounds a bit crazy, I realize … I realized later that climate change is really not that external and it’s really not that far away. It’s going to affect a lot of us a lot sooner than we think.”
At Morgan’s event, participants are encouraged to wear business attire to symbolize that climate change is everyone’s business. The flash mob will involve alarms, noisemakers, stunts and calls placed to political leaders. Then, the event will dissipate as quickly as it began.
“We’re all in this together,” she says. “We all have to come together with a solution. There is no time for any delay. It has to happen now.”
Wake up Toronto
• Wake-Up Calls will be held in 21 locations at 12:18 p.m., including:
• Yonge and Dundas
• 115 King St. E. (at Church)
• Yonge and Eglinton
Wake up Edmonton
• W.C. “Tubby” Bateman Park, 4:30 p.m.
• University of Alberta main quad, 11:50 a.m.
Wake up Calgary
• Scotchman’s Hill, 2101 Salisbury St. SE, 12:18 p.m.
• Stephen Harper’s constituency office, 1600 – 90th Ave. SW, 10 a.m.
Wake up Halifax
• Halifax Waterfront, 12:18 p.m.
• 1726 Hollis St., 12 p.m.
• Chapter House, 5743 University Ave., 12:30 p.m.
Wake up Ottawa
• A Wake-Up Call will be held at Parliament Hill, 12:15 p.m.
Wake up Vancouver
• Georgia and Hornby, 12:18 p.m.
• The SUB building at UBC, 12:18 p.m.
• 32nd and Prince Edward, 12 p.m.
For complete listings
www.tcktcktck.org/events
