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Colley-Urquhart said the activist’s visit would encourage youth in Calgary who have been staging weekly climate strikes every Friday.

“She’s a catalyst for people to learn more, take an interest and become more informed,” said Colley-Urquhart, adding that she hopes people in the province will be above personal attacks against Thunberg during her stay and focus on her message instead.

Tsuut’ina First Nation Chief Lee Crowchild also offered Thunberg an invitation.

“I would like to personally invite you to our great Nation while you are here in Alberta. You are my guest and we will do what we need to do to have you speak to the province with the voices of the Alberta Nations,” Crowchild said on Twitter.

Sara Austin, a Calgary child advocate who helped create the United Nations protocol that Thunberg used to file her complaint, said she hopes Thunberg’s visit urges Albertans to consider issues affecting youth in light of the upcoming federal election.

“The perspectives that I hear from most Canadian youth I speak to are these issues should be non-partisan. The health and well-being of our children should be something we can all support and all get behind and set aside our partisan politics and really take action for the sake of our young people,” said Austin.

“Kids represent a quarter of our population and 100 per cent of our future, so it’s really important that we listen to them.”

Austin, who is the founder and CEO of Children First Canada, said she has reached out to Thunberg for a meeting.