During the press conference that accompanied yesterday’s launch of the 2012 edition of Environment Canada’s “Canada’s Emissions Trends”, Environment Minister Peter Kent claimed the report shows that Canada is now “half way to its target of reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.” While Kent went on to claim credit for this purported progress on behalf of the Harper government’s sector-by-sector regulatory approach to greenhouse gas pollution, for most observers it seemed to good too be true, given that the previous year’s

Over the past three days I have had about 10 meetings with European decision- and policy-makers to talk about the impacts of tar sands on Canada's domestic and international policy.

And we're off ... again.

The 17th round of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks started up today in Durban where even the most optimistic predictions are pretty dismal. Around the globe, skepticism over the potential for the creation of a global climate accord that would ensure and enforce international action has become pervasive after the failure of the 2009 talks in Copenhagen. But progress has not simply stalled, it has been bound, gagged and lashed to the ground by the influence of the fossil fuel industry and the actions of governments like Canada who negotiate on behalf of it.

On September 26, more than 200 Canadians came together with clear minds and hopeful attitudes to risk arrest on Parliament Hill. They were protesting the Keystone XL pipeline that would take oil from the tar sands in Alberta down to the U.S., and were doing so because the pipeline represents a grave threat to our future.

Today I am going to participate in an event that will likely result in my arrest. I will be joining hundreds of other Canadians in non-violent civil disobedience to protest the Harper government's inaction on climate change and demand that they stop the expansion of the Alberta tar sands. 

The reactions of family and friends have been interesting as I explain my motivations. Most people struggle to understand how breaking the law could possibly be a good thing. The reality is, I would prefer to avoid getting arrested and instead feel confident that my government was taking seriously one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. Unfortunately they are not, so I will be risking arrest on Monday.

Recently, I was part of a group of youth from across Canada who used the smoke and mirrors of the Internet in order to draw attention to Canada's abysmal climate record.

We have written it on placards and we’ve chanted it in the streets.

It’s time for Green Jobs now!

But what is a green job? And what does it mean to fight for them?

As I write this, postal workers across Canada are being threatened with back to work legislation after being locked out by Canada Post. After a rolling strike began in early June, following eight months of negotiations. This heavy-handed attack on the rights of workers is more than just a warning shot by the Canadian government across the bow of organized labour, and the actions of our sisters and brothers in the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are more than just a strike. This is the frontline of the fight for Green Jobs in Canada.

In the year 168 BC, a Roman Senator named Popillius Laenas was sent as an envoy to confront and stop the Macedonian ruler Antiochus IV from his conquest of Egypt. History tells the story of Laenas standing alone, blocking Antiochus' road to Alexandria and delivering a message for the Macedonian to withdraw his armies and retreat. The story goes that Laenus drew a circle in sand surrounding the king and demanded that he deliver his reply before stepping out, and so it goes that the phrase "drawing a line in the sand" was born.

"Let fury have the hour, anger can be power, don't you know that we can use it?" -- The Clash

Pissed off? If you voted, you probably should be.

Throughout our young lives we are taught to revere the Canadian electoral system. We are told that it is this system keeps the demons of tyranny and terror at bay. Yet earlier this week just under two-thirds of voters rejected the government which now holds executive power. Add to that a large proportion of people who refused to participate in this election, and you have a government that has failed to achieve the fundamental baseline of democratic rule, the consent of those they are to govern.

So what do we do?

We are young people from across Canada, asking you to listen.

As the Arctic is melting before our eyes and as small island nations disappear beneath rising sea levels, we see our government failing to act on the greatest crisis of our time. We are crossing the tipping point, knowing that this is the world that we are inheriting, but we refuse to pass this crisis on to our children.

This is a call to action.