Council of Canadians organizer Diane Connors at the COP21 climate summit, Dec. 2015.
The Council of Canadians is a supporter of the upcoming PowerShift conference in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) in Treaty 6 territory April 1-3.
As noted on their website, “PowerShift Alberta is a youth-led organizing initiative that will bring together 500+ people from diverse backgrounds across Alberta, the Prairies, and beyond, to learn, develop their skills and build a movement for climate and environmental justice. …PowerShift Alberta aims to be a catalyst for education and collective action in a long-term effort to harness the power of youth and intergenerational communities to create change for a justice-based, sustainable future for all.”
Specifically, “PowerShift Alberta will bring together leaders from the climate movement and beyond. Each night we’ll hear keynote speeches, but during the day there will also be a host of trainings and workshops led by grassroots leaders from across the country.” Announcements about who those speakers will be are coming soon.” As such, “PowerShift will mobilize, educate and support a youth base of organizing in Alberta to take advantage of this political moment and push for lasting, transformative change from the grassroots.”
Their website also highlights, “Youth and frontline communities have been fighting back from the streets of urban centres, to campuses across the country where divestment campaigns are gaining ground, to the halls of the United Nations where the recent Paris Agreement was signed. We believe that youth action can inspire conversations in the broader movement and are ready for continued action. Now is the time to come together to demand a just transition to a clean energy economy, and a better future for all.”
Edmonton-based Council of Canadians organizer Diane Connors has been part of the core organizing team, reaching out to youth across the country, making local connections for the event, integrating arts into the programming, and ensuring there is accessible space for involvement from communities we stand in solidarity with.
Council of Canadians chapter activists who know a young person who would be interested in this event are being asked to encourage their registration, and if possible to sponsor a youth for whom cost is a barrier to participation in this gathering.
PowerShift is organized by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, and is also supported by other groups that include the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, the Canadian Federation of Students, Greenpeace, and the Canadian Labour Congress.
To find out more information about PowerShift Alberta, please click here.
