On March 26th, roughly 150 students, community members, and delegates from Ottawa’s many environmental groups gathered at the Shenkman Arts Centre for the final installation of David & Tara’s Stronger Together Tour.
David Suzuki and Tara Cullis, life partners and co-founders of the David Suzuki Foundation, toured for two months this spring, performing their original play, What You Won’t Do For Love, in local theatres across Southern Ontario. The play, which completed its run at the Shenkman Centre on the 25th, explores their love story as a couple and as activists.
Along the way, David and Tara hosted a second, Stronger Together Tour. At these conversation-focused events, local community groups were invited to share ideas and discuss what climate adaptation should look like in their city. And on the 26th, Ottawa’s environmental scene arrived ready to work.
In the full-capacity theatre, David and Tara took their seats on stage alongside fellow speakers Julia Robinson and Dr. Mili Roy, Program Manager for the City of Ottawa’s Climate Change and Resiliency Team and Co-chair for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, respectively. After an opening by Grand Chief Verna Polson of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe started things off with an overview of Ottawa’s recent climate change mitigation and resiliency wins, including an expansion of the electric bus fleet and new mandates to strengthen infrastructure against extreme weather.
David and Tara spoke next. Clearly well-versed in balancing the heavy with the light, both activists recounted the wins and losses of lives dedicated to conservation with humour and a cautious optimism. The standout message: Think globally, act locally. The climate crisis may be the toughest challenge the world has faced, but our fate does not rest with the powerful few; rather, its scope reaffirms the intersectionality needed in our response. David and Tara emphasized that all community members, from all walks of life, have a role to play; whether they be teachers, doctors,lawyers, grandparents, or artists. The theme was not lost on us: we are stronger together.
If anyone in attendance needed further convincing on this point, they surely found it during the Community Spotlight that followed. Audience members were encouraged to come forward and share how their family, their neighbourhood, or their organization furthers environmentalism in Ottawa—and how others can support their mission. Nearly everyone in the theatre stood. Two lines stretched to the exit on either side of the event hall, and it took almost an hour to hear each call to action. University students spoke of campus protests and sustainability clubs, volunteers from the Red Cross described their work to protect Canadians from extreme heat, an artist shared his campaign to paint climate disasters across the country, and neighbourhood groups advertised repair cafés and downtown walkability petitions.
Claire Taggart is a member of Ecology Ottawa's EcoYouth Council.
