A small group of students and professors gathered at UNBC's agora for a candlelit vigil for climate change action in Canada.
A total of 11 participants lit candles to mourn Canada's failure to act on climate change at the international climate conference in Durban, South Africa.
"Canada is refusing to sign onto a treaty that would result in meaningful reductions in carbon emissions," organizer Nadia Nowak said. "There is countries [at the conference] that are literally going underwater and we're doing nothing."
Nowak said it's been a demoralizing few years for Canadians who are concerned about climate change.
Canada was frequently criticized internationally for its role during the Copenhagen conference and failure to meet its Kyoto Accord obligations.
"After Copenhagen, a lot of us had the wind out of our sails," Nowak said. "[But] our voices can be heard if we raise them."
Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance spokesperson Sonja Ostertag said she was disheartened to read Archbishop Desmond Tutu's criticism of Canada's environmental policy.
"It was when Archbishop Desmond Tutu said we are loosing the moral leadership we had in Canada, that I decided we have to do something," Ostertag said. "We can't let the Conservative government make decisions on behalf of Canadians."
Ostertag said Canadians have to let the government know that they do care about climate change and are prepared to take action.
Vigil attendee Thomas Cheney said arguments by government that taking action of climate change would kill the economy are false.
"There are things we could be doing -like phasing out fossil-fuel fired power plants - that would create jobs," Cheney said. "Meeting our emission reduction targets would create jobs. The cost of alternate sources of power will be equal to conventional sources in 10 years. And they are getting closer already."
