EDMONTON—It’s a hill they’re willing to die on.

As part of the Global Strike for Climate, about 300 people took part in a “die-in” protest on Friday, to demand action on climate change and to raise the alarm on the impact of global warming on Earth.

Events took place across Canada, including Edmonton and Calgary.

The group led by students, but including people of all ages, rallied at the Alberta legislature before marching down 108 Street and Jasper Avenue to Canada Place, which houses federal government offices. The march and die-in was organized by Edmonton Youth for Climate, Climate Strike Canada and Extinction Rebellion Canada.

They chanted “No more coal, no more oil, keep that carbon in the soil!” as curious onlookers whipped out their phones to capture the scene. Drivers honked their horns in support. One counter protester walked ahead of the crowd with a sign that said, “Man made climate = scam.”

MacEwan University ecology student Kiersten Hepburn said she attended because she urgently wants to see governments take concrete action on climate change.

“This issue tops them all, because it’s our planet,” she said. “If this goes, we’re all dead. So the economy and everything else doesn’t matter after that.”

She called it “kind of frustrating that it’s taken us this long for us to do as little as we have.”

She said global warming is the number one issue on her mind this election.

George Lipinzsky, visiting Edmonton from Germany, said he was struck by the size of the crowd. He said in his small town of 35,000, climate action rallies attract about 1,500 people.

“Even in Berlin they have had more than 200,000. So for a city like Edmonton, nearly a million, there must be 100,000 people on the street,” Lipinzsky said. “But I know the economy in Alberta depends on oil, so they don’t really like this question. That’s my impression.”

Mike Tayles brought out his three-year-old daughter, Yasmen, to demand action. He said he’s noticed the weather patterns changing in Alberta, and he’s deeply concerned about the planet’s future.

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“I recognize that we have an energy province. But I think it’s time to think and do something different,” he said. “If you don’t have a future to live in, does everything else matter?”

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