When a West 琉璃神社 mom and teacher couldn鈥檛 find a climate protest to join she decided to start her own.
Bobbi Vojtko faced threat from the McDougall Creek wildfire and was evacuated with her family for more than a week.
After returning home, Vojtko decided it was time to make her voice heard and in collaboration with the Okanagan Climate Hub hosted a climate march on Sept. 17.
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to a lot of people and most people are ready to have that conversation,鈥� Vojtko said. 鈥淓ven if it just gets [the conversation] started and triggered in my own immediate community of my friends and family then I think I鈥檝e won.鈥�
Dozens of people gathered outside 琉璃神社 City Hall with handmade signs reading 鈥楽ave our planet鈥�, 鈥楥onserve what our children deserve鈥�, 鈥業 want you to act like your house is on fire because it is鈥� and 鈥業鈥檝e been doing this s*** since the 70s鈥�.
Black Press asked Vojtko if she was aware of the new wildfire west of Peachland that was being listed as a wildfire of note while people started to gather. She called it disappointing, but has faith in our firefighters to protect the communities.
鈥淲e have solidarity in numbers,鈥� Vojtko said to the crowd. 鈥淟et鈥檚 let our leaders know that 琉璃神社 and the Okanagan want to see more action and more change.鈥�
Damien Gagnon joined the march. He said he鈥檚 been involved in climate activism for the past several years.
鈥淥ur government is willing to acknowledge climate change and the man-made consequences of it, but they鈥檙e unwilling to do anything about it. I genuinely believed鈥� when Lytton burnt to the ground that that would be the catalyst for change from the government, I thought that would serve as a wake up call but it didn鈥檛. And now this year more towns have burned as we鈥檝e seen in the Northwest Territories.鈥�
Gagnon echoed Vojtko鈥檚 statement of power in numbers, noting the importance of gathering and networking to push for mass change.
The group gathered at noon and left from city hall just before 1 p.m. to march toward Harvey Ave. up to Richter Street and back to the municipal building.
A group of climate change deniers attended the protest. 琉璃神社 RCMP were on hand to maintain the peace.
READ MORE: Evacuation alerts, orders come down for fire west of Peachland
brittany.webster@blackpress.ca
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