PRINCE ALBERT — A Prince Albert resident was recently part of the first-ever Youth Climate Assembly.
On Sept. 21 the first-ever Canadian Youth Climate Assembly presented their recommendations to the Speaker of the Senate and other Parliamentarians in the Senate Chamber.
Brendan Muskaluk, a 22-year-old from Prince Albert, was a member of the Youth Climate Assembly. Muskaluk is not currently a student and is in the workforce.
Muskaluk explained that it was by luck that he found out about the assembly.
“The way that they marketed and got volunteers to sign up was a few different ways. They marketed on social media, and they reached out to universities and sent off links that way,” Muskaluk said.
He said that he found out about the Assembly by receiving a letter at his address. The Assembly purchases a few thousand addresses each year and sends out letters.
“I got one of those flyers in the mail and read about it and signed up that way. (It was kind of random luck. And I, after looking into it, and actually around that time, was thinking about trying to do something positive for the environment, and it was just kind of like right time, right place,” Muskaluk said.
From Sept. 17-21, a diverse group of 36 youth, aged 18-25, came together in Ottawa to answer the central question, ‘What do young Canadians want Parliament to do to meet Canada’s climate commitments in a way that reflects their values and priorities?’
The Assembly culminated with participants presenting their recommendations to address this question in the Senate Chamber on Sept. 21.
Experience was amazing
Muskaluk said that the experience in Ottawa was amazing and he enjoyed it.
“It was a lot of work. It was nonstop from once I landed in Ottawa for my flight, and once I left, it was nonstop. There were tons of different presentations from experts in different fields.”
He said that experts included professors from different universities and a previous Speaker of the House. There were also Senators and Members of Parliament from the United Kingdom and France by Zoom.
“So, it was really, it was very interesting learning different perspectives from different experts,” Muskaluk said.
Outside of the presentations, there were discussions as a total group and in smaller groups.
“It was a lot of collaboration, and it was nice to get to know everyone and just learn lots of different stuff about climate change on both sides of, I guess, opinions, you can say,” Muskaluk said.
The recommendations from the Assembly will be published in a final report in mid- to late October, according to Muskaluk.
Focus on preparing for climate risks
The Assembly focuses on preparing for climate risks, climate accountability, and then reducing emissions in the oil and gas sector.
“Within each of those, we had somewhere between six and 10 recommendations each in those. Lots of different recommendations that we gave off to the Senate and the members of parliament that were present for the presentation.
As far as what Muskaluk learned, he said he was familiar with the subject.
“I felt pretty comfortable with what I did know going into it about climate change, since it is definitely impacting everyone’s lives, not just Canadians, not just people in PA, but everyone’s lives,” Muskaluk said.
He said that one note that he wanted to amplify is that Canada has not met a single environmental commitment from areas like the Paris Agreement and climate change items from the G20.
“Canada is one of the only countries that has not hit a single commitment that they’ve vowed to hit, ever,” Muskaluk said.
He said learning that opened his eyes on the issue.
“It was kind of eye-opening to see how there is this global issue and that most countries are open about wanting to try to hit these targets. Yet, because we make it such a partisan and political debate and issue within Canada, that there’s so much talking and not a lot of doing,” Muskaluk said.
Another part of the presentation by the assembly was seven principles that young Canadians want to see parliamentarians use when passing new bills or looking at climate legislation.
“One of those principles was non-partisanship; this is a common goal that we want to hit. It’s not a matter of if we’re going to do it or not. We have got to find out the best way to get it done,” Muskaluk said.
Muskaluk said that he is really hopeful that Senators and Members of Parliament will look at the report and not just put it on the shelf
“I do really think that this is important that young Canadians are represented in this and that it’s something that our lives are going to grow into, that we’re going to see the impacts of today’s decisions,” Muskaluk said.
