As the effects of climate change accelerate wildfires both locally and worldwide, Seniors for Climate Manitoba is taking action.

“When change happens, it’s never incremental,” said Clayton Thomas Müller. “It’s always in great, profound leaps. And we’re in that moment right now.”

Hosted by Seniors for Climate Manitoba, a concert in late September brought together artists, speakers, poets, writers, activists, and community members for a night at the “iconic venue” of the West End Cultural Centre.

“It’s a two-pronged thing,” said Pat Wally, Chair of Seniors for Climate Manitoba: raise awareness of climate change, and raise funds for wildfire evacuees.

“Now more than ever, it’s really important for community to be coming together and talking about the very real, intense issues that humanity is facing,” said Müller, emcee of the event.

Manitoba is currently in the midst of its worst wildfire season in 30 years, and the “largest evacuation in the history of the province of Manitoba,” Müller said.

The evacuation and repatriation process is costly for both the government and evacuees, Müller said, stressing the social and mental health consequences of being evacuated from your home.

Over 22,000 wildfire evacuees have registered with the Red Cross, the majority of whom are First Nation citizens, said Müller.

“Thousands of these folks did not have identification, could not get Red Cross benefits, [and] have been living on the streets [for the] last 4 months,” Müller said, “and these are people with children, with families.”

Müller was personally impacted by this when he lost his older brother: “He never really recovered, like many of our people, from the first evacuation a few years ago. He ended up becoming a street person,” he said. “And last year, he passed away from the toxic drug supply.”

The event opened with an information expo where attendees could learn about the many factors and impacts of climate change, and live performances by the Raging Grannies, an activist group of grandmother-age singers.

Booths at the information expo ranged from Wilderness Committee’s brand new publication, One Crisis, to warnings of the environmental impacts of nuclear energy.

Anne Lindsey of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition (MEJC) said “nuclear is not the answer to climate change, and so many people seem to think it is.”

Lindsey mentioned a government plan to bury Canada’s nuclear waste in Ontario, upstream of Manitoba waters like Lake Winnipeg — a plan the MEJC is campaigning against.

“We’re trying to bring attention to that and get our government to protest it,” Lindsey said.
The concert portion of the event included music from Murray Pulver, Gabriela Ocejo, and Madeleine Roger.

After Murray Pulver performed a lively Drive my Bike version of Drive my Car by The Beatles, Madeleine Roger played songs she wrote with the climate crisis in mind — including Cottonwood, a song about Manitoba’s Boreal Forest and “tending to this beautiful place that we get to call home.”

Müller highlighted the importance of having conversations about “the reality of climate change,” staying educated on nonviolent civil disobedience, and being ready to “speak to the messages that matter today.”

Wally encouraged those interested in learning more about Seniors for Climate to visit seniorsforclimate.org, and @seniors_for_climate_mb on Instagram.