Hundreds of people joined the Global Climate Strike Kick-Off early Friday afternoon at city hall.

The youth-driven strike was the first event of a global week-long movement demanding climate action. The event was in part inspired by the FridaysForFuture campaign inspired by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.

The Whitehorse rally was one of more than 2,000 similar strikes in 163 countries in what activists estimate may have been the largest climate protest in world history. Activists estimate four million people marched on Friday.

“At the rate that we are going, even if we do have a future, we don’t think it’s going to be a very successful and maintainable one,” said Kate Hannah, a 17-year-old Porter Creek Secondary School student.

“We told our teachers ‘we need to do this, instead of going to our English class. We don’t need to know Shakespeare if we’re not going to have a future.’”

Naomi Dedon, 17, agreed that climate change is a major issue of concern in her life.

“Climate change is becoming more of an issue, and we’re not seeing the companies or the government doing things about it, and we need change now. Now is an important time to be doing something,” she said.

The attendees carried signs, chanted and walked in a loop from city hall to Main Street and back.

Many students said they hope the rally will help to amplify the voices of youth calling for change.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re being heard, and it’s really nice to be a part of this and get our point across,” said 16-year-old Breda McIntyre, a Vanier Catholic Secondary School student.

“I think it’s time we start moving in a positive direction, because it seems we’ve been stopped for a while now. It would be nice to go somewhere.”

Multiple students from F.H. Collins Secondary School attended the rally. Many are enrolled in the high school’s social justice class or are members of the social justice club.

Janet Clarke, a social justice instructor at F.H. Collins, said the club worked together to prepare for the rally.

“We made signs on Tuesday,” Clarke said. “It’s a pretty good group, and there’s certainly some passion there.”

The social justice club at F.H. Collins has been active for about 20 years and the club’s action focuses on issues important to students, Clarke noted. Lately, she said, climate has been the club’s first priority.

“We meet once a week and we advocate, we fundraise and we educate the school about the issues,” Clarke said.

Emma Marnik, 17, is one of the social justice club’s members. She spent most of Friday’s rally directing traffic as students marched.

“I am very into climate justice,” she said. “I’m willing to sacrifice part of my education time to bring that attention to adult politicians who are not listening to us.

“We don’t have a say in the next election, we do not get to vote for what matters to us, so we’re hoping this will show other people what is actually important to the youth right now.”

Marnik said she was planning to join Thunberg in an additional strike on Saturday. Thunberg planned to be in Montreal for the event.

“I’m missing the election by 2 1/2 months, and I’m pretty upset about that because I feel like I’m educated about what’s going on in my country and I’d like to have my say.”

Marnik hopes to one day earn a degree in environmental science with the intention of going into environmental law.

Marnik wasn’t the only student who attended the protest hoping to speak up in lieu of voting in the upcoming election.

“We want to make a difference,” said 17-year-old Claire Campbell. “At this point, in time we can’t vote, but being part of the protest is showing people what we believe in.”

Campbell, another F.H. Collins student, said she co-ordinated with her teachers to plan for catch-up work periods so she could attend the rally without sacrificing her studies.

Campbell said she became a climate activist in the last year when she began to read more research describing how time is ticking to reverse climate catastrophe.

“Last year was when I started to feel like we really needed to act,” she said.

Eleanor Macmillan, 17, said she was happy to be at the rally but wished for a bigger turnout.

“I think more of us should be out here,” she said. “It should be a school event.”

Still, Macmillan said it was a good feeling to join the other strikers at city hall.

“It feels pretty awesome,” she said. “I like that so many people are here and everyone is supporting this idea.”

“It’s a cool energy,” agreed 17-year-old Sarah Milton.

Heather Mislang, a 15-year-old Vanier Catholic student, called the rally “exhilarating.”

“It’s so fun to walk around with people who think the same thing as you do,” she said. “It’s coming together in cohesion, it feels like you have power.”

Derek Deuling, 17, said he was happy to attend the rally and also happy to see some of his F.H. Collins instructors in attendance.

“Climate change is really what defines our future at the moment, and that’s really important to me,” he said.

Many Whitehorse families also attended the rally.

Roma Dobrowolsky attended the event with her daughter and granddaughter.

“I think our inaction is totally irresponsible, and it’s time that people recognize this is everybody’s responsibility,” she said.

Dobrowolsky added she was disappointed that city council chose not to declare a climate emergency last Monday. (The relevant motion is back on the agenda for this evening’s meeting.)

“It’s passing the buck,” Dobrowolsky said. “But we all have a role to play, at every level of government.”

Faith Whiting attended the rally with her three children, all of whom marched with different priorities.

Whiting’s six-year-old son, Orion Biggin-Pound, decorated a protest sign depicting animals, a cause Whiting said is dear to his heart.

Ten-year-old Elijah Biggie-Pound said his biggest point of concern is pollution.

“I don’t want to live in a world where it’s really polluted, I want to act now,” he said.

Elijah’s and Orion’s sister, eight-year-old Ember Biggin-Pound, agreed that pollution was of major concern to her.

“It feels good,” Ember said about the rally. “There’s a lot of people trying to change it, and I like that.”

Whiting said her family watched videos of youth activist Thunberg together, and learned that kids can be climate activists alongside adults.

“That was pretty inspirational,” Whiting said.

Two federal election candidates were present at the rally. Green Party candidate Lenore Morris told the Star it was uplifting to see such a high turnout for climate action.

“It’s great to see there’s that many people interested in environmental issues,” she said.

“I really want these issues dealt with, and it’s just fantastic that many people who are also keen and passionate will turn up.”

New Democratic Party candidate Justin Lemphers, who also attended, said he’s hoping “that this is a tipping point.

“This is the message to city hall because we want climate action,” he said. “My hope is that those who need to make decisions about climate action are taking into account the many people who showed up today.”