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Saturday, September 21, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

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About 60 people converged on the steps at city hall on Friday morning as part of a series of protests around the globe urging world leaders to act more aggressively to combat climate change.

‘Global Climate Strike’ draws protesters to city hall Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mneilsen@pgcitizen.ca About 60 people converged on the steps of city hall Friday morning as part of a series of “Global Climate Strike” events around the world urging world leaders to act more aggressively to combat climate change. Many were carrying signs bearing such lines as “Stop Denying the Earth is Dying,” “This Is A Crisis, Not A #Trend,” and “This Generation Will Not Wait.” The protests were partly inspired by the activism of Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has staged weekly “Fridays for Future” demonstrations for a year, urging world leaders to step up efforts against climate change. In Prince George, they have been held on Friday afternoons at Mr. PG since May. Caitlyn McCarville said she has been participating when she can. She said climate

change is “definitely not good” and that it’s been shown that activism works in terms of raising the issue with government. Concern about the petrochemical complex proposed for the BCR Industrial site was raised. “The future is not about investing in two dying industries – oil and gas and carbon plastics,” said Zoe Meletis when she spoke to the participants. In an interview, Meletis said economic development should be contingent on environmental sustainability. “The two can’t be delinked and I think new petrochemical plants too close to residences in a diversifying economy does not fit with that vision,” she said. That the complex will rely on natural gas extracted by fracking was also raised as a concern. A review by the B.C. Environmental Assessment office for an ethylene plant – one of three major components of the complex

– is now underway. Michelle Kerr, the Green party candidate in Cariboo-Prince George attended the event. “This in an incredibly important cause and we all could probably agree that the government should wake up and take it seriously,” she said while speaking to the group. “It’s such a victory,” Thunberg told The Associated Press in an interview in New York. “I would never have predicted or believed that this was going to happen, and so fast – and only in 15 months.” Thunberg is expected to participate in a UN Youth Climate Summit on Saturday and speak at the UN Climate Action Summit with global leaders on Monday. “They have this opportunity to do something, and they should take that,” she said. “And otherwise, they should feel ashamed.” The world has warmed about one degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) since before the

Industrial Revolution, and scientists have attributed more than 90 per cent of the increase to emissions of heat-trapping gases from fuel-burning and other human activity. Scientists have warned that global warming will subject Earth to rising seas and more heat waves, droughts, powerful storms, flooding and other problems, and that some have already started manifesting themselves. Climate change has made record-breaking heat temperature records twice as likely as record-setting cold temperatures over the past two decades in the contiguous U.S., according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. Nations around the world agreed at a 2015 summit in Paris to hold warming to less than two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) more than pre-industrial-era levels by the end of this century. — with files from The Canadian Press

Quesnel man guilty of first- Strimbold sentencing hearing postponed degree murder in Yukon Citizen staff

Gord FORTIN Whitehorse Star A 12 person jury has found a 22-year-old Quesnel man guilty of first-degree murder in relation to Adam Cormack’s death. The jury delivered its verdict on Thursday afternoon. Deputy Justice Scott Brooker indicated that first degree murder comes with a statutory penalty of life in prison and parole ineligibility for 25 years. The jury began deliberating on Wednesday after Brooker gave his official charge and dismissed two of the 14 jurors that participated in the trial. Legally, only 12 jurors can deliberate. During jury selection process in August, Brooker explained that 14 were chosen due to the projected length of the trial. It finished ahead of schedule. The charge instructed the jury on the laws it would have to interpret. Brooker gave the jury the options of convicting Penner on first degree murder, second degree murder or finding him not

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guilty of either. The jury did not reach a verdict by 8 p.m. on Wednesday and thus had to be sequestered overnight. The deliberations resumed at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday. The jury reconvened later that morning to ask for clarifications on the words deliberate action and weighing the consequences. Brooker, after consulting with the Crown and the defense, explained that a deliberate act is one that is not rash. The person who takes this action considered the potential outcome. As for weighing the consequences, Brooker clarified that this is considering how one’s actions will impact others or reflecting on the potential punishment one could receive. After the verdict was read, Crown prosecutor Tom Lemon indicated that there were two victim impact statements that would be read. The first to be read was from Theresa Cormack, the mother of the deceased. — see ‘I JUST WANT, page 3

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A sentencing hearing for former Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold will be postponed. Set to occur this Monday in Smithers will be adjourned to accommodate court scheduling issues, B.C. Prosecution Service spokesman Daniel McLaughlin said. Counsel will appear in B.C. Supreme Court in the community to set a new date for the hearing. In May, Strimbold pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault involving four boys who were under the age of 16. A pre-sentencing report and a psychological assessment were ordered. A special prosecutor had previously approved 29 charges against Strimbold, including sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching, that were alleged to have involved six people who were all under the age of 16 at the time. An indictment shows the assaults he pleaded guilty to occurred between May 2014 and August 2017. In 2011, he became British Columbia’s

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STRIMBOLD youngest elected mayor when he was elected in Burns Lake, a community of about 1,850 people 226 kilometres west of Prince George. In September 2016 and part way through his second term, he resigned and in March 2018, Burns Lake RCMP confirmed he had been charged with numerous counts of sexual assault and related offences. — with files from The Canadian Press

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