By Muriel Jarvis,  Seniors for Climate  (Telegraph Journal Apr 15, 2025)

Ten million Canadians, according to Statistics Canada, were over 60 years of age in 2023. That’s 26 per cent of Canada’s population. You might think of this age cohort as retired, traveling, or otherwise not doing much. Think again. Almost 20 per cent of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) are still working, 40 per cent volunteer, and, critically, almost 80 per cent vote, according to Elections Canada, compared to almost 54 per cent of 18-to-34-year olds.

Seniors for Climate is a national movement of older Canadians rallying around the idea that we have the social power, time, resources and skills to make a difference on climate change and to do it for the sake of our children and grandchildren. We are gathering in communities across Canada this Earth Day, April 22. In New Brunswick, Seniors for Climate organizers from Saint Andrews, Moncton, Sackville, Saint John and Fredericton are inviting climate concerned citizens from across the province to join us Tuesday, April 22, rain or shine, in Fredericton where we will gather at city hall and the New Brunswick Legislature.

Citizens gathering at city hall and the legislature is democracy in action. Why is this so important this Earth Day? With threats to free speech and democratic processes growing globally and too close to home, citizens calling for action on climate change is more important than ever.

Burning fossil fuels pushes up temperatures, hurting everything we love. Extreme rains flood communities. Unnatural heat waves cause wildfires that destroy homes, fill skies with smoke and send vulnerable Canadians, including New Brunswickers, to hospital with heat stroke and asthma. Ordinary people pay unfair costs – higher insurance, higher taxes to repair infrastructure, higher food costs when crops are destroyed. Oil and gas companies make billions while people suffer.

Seniors for Climate want governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuel companies and make polluters pay for the damage they are causing. We want strong investments in renewable energy – solar, wind and storage – all cheaper and more reliable than gas, oil or nuclear. We need expanded electric public transit and school buses, energy-efficient housing and heat pumps for all. Canadians, including New Brunswickers, deserve the good jobs and cleaner communities that come with a fossil-free future.

Time is running out. We need to act now, and seniors do something more reliably than others: we vote. Many of us are also fortunate enough to have spending power to support solutions and the energy transition. We have time to advocate for change and to be part of a broad-based and deep-rooted movement – so that our kids and our grandkids inherit a better world. Join us now, because later really is too late.

Seniors for Climate New Brunswicker Organizers: Muriel Jarvis, Saint Andrews; Leslie Chandler, Moncton; Ann McAllister, Saint John; Karen Rogers, Riverview; Penny Mott, Meredith Fisher and Logan Atkinson, Tantramar (Sackville); and Louise Comeau, Fredericton