The plaintiffs behind the La Rose case come from communities across the country, from Vancouver Island to the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia. They were between the ages of 7 and 19 when they launched their case in 2019.  

That year, a wave of youth-led climate activism swept the globe. Inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, hundreds of thousands of young people across Canada took to the streets to demand bold action to address the climate crisis. Out of that moment of hope and determination, these 14 young people stepped forward to take their fight for a safe climate into the courtroom.

Each of the plaintiffs, now between 16 and 24 years of age, is already living with the impacts of climate change. Unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events are damaging their homes and communities, threatening their health and safety, and disrupting cultural and recreational activities central to their well-being.  

Some have seen family homes flooded or crops destroyed, while others face smoke-filled summers, contaminated water, or the loss of cultural heritage and traditional ways of life. Beyond the physical harms, many describe the emotional toll of witnessing environmental loss and fearing for their futures in a rapidly warming world. 

Now that I am studying Environmental Sciences and learning about the effects of humans on our Earth every day, it has become even more obvious that something big must be done to fight against the climate crisis. My hope is that this case will be part of that something, for the sake of our future and future generations. 

Plaintiff Sadie Vipond (Calgary, Alberta) 

The youth plaintiffs are represented by Catherine Boies Parker, K.C. and David Wu of Arvay Finlay LLP and Chris Tollefson of Tollefson Law Corporation, with the support of West Coast Environmental Law, Our Children’s Trust, as well as the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation (CELL). The David Suzuki Foundation provides communications support for the case. 

_{Photo credit: Robin Loznak / Our Children’s Trust}