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Many of them are too young to vote in next month’s federal election, but they are intent on having a say.

“We plan to be unignorable,” said Rebecca Hamilton, a Grade 12 student at Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver and one of the organizers behind the General Strike for Climate Action, happening Sept. 27 in Vancouver.

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The student-led movement is inviting people of all ages to leave school and work early to rally outside Vancouver City Hall.

“It’s an opportunity for the whole city to come together and have a voice on the biggest issue of our time,” said Hamilton, who wants the federal election to be a “referendum on the climate crisis.”

“We have 10 years left to avoid catastrophe,” she said. “The next four years is a large chunk of that time. It’s frustrating that I don’t have a vote in an election that is so important to me.”

Climate Strike Canada organizer Harrison Johnston said the general strike will show political leaders that the environment should be at the forefront of their platforms.