A Yellowknife 20-year-old is among 15 plaintiffs heading to court this month in a case arguing Ottawa violated young Canadians’ charter rights by failing to adequately address climate change.
Kira Young is a third-year student at McMaster University and joined the case as a plaintiff about three years ago. The trial in La Rose v His Majesty the King begins on October 26 in Vancouver and is expected to continue into February 2027.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2019 by 15 young Canadians. The plaintiffs argue they are already being harmed by climate change and the federal government’s failure to meet climate targets it set for itself violates their rights to life, liberty and security of the person under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
They are asking the Federal Court to declare that the government’s conduct violates their Charter rights and order Canada to develop and implement a science-based climate recovery plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For Young, the impacts of climate change are personal.
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She said growing up in the Northwest Territories meant seeing the effects of climate change through wildfires, permafrost thaw and flooding. She joined the lawsuit shortly after Yellowknife’s 2023 wildfire evacuation.
“I really want to highlight how important growing up in the North and spending time on the land has been [for] my upbringing,” Young told Cabin Radio.
She said the changing climate is affecting her family, friends and relationships with the land.
According to Young, the proceeding will be the first time a federal court in Canada hears a youth climate case at a full trial.
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All 15 plaintiffs are expected to testify, as are scientists, economists and professors. Young said the plaintiffs are working with their lawyers to prepare their testimony and understand the evidence that will be presented.
The case has taken years to reach this point in part because the federal government previously argued the lawsuit should not proceed to trial. Around the time Young joined the case, the Federal Court of Appeal unanimously ruled the case could be heard, allowing the plaintiffs to move forward.
Young said that decision has stayed with her throughout years of preparation as evidence that this case is important and “deserves to be heard.”
The case could have particular significance for the North, she said, where communities are already experiencing the effects of a changing climate.
Young said a climate recovery plan mandated by the court, as sought by the plaintiffs, could mean that plan remains in place even if a different federal government takes office.
A separate youth-led climate lawsuit is also moving forward, as first reported by the CBC. Maltais et al v Minister of Environment and Climate Change was filed this year by three young people and environmental groups.
The case focuses on whether the federal government must update its climate plan under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. A federal judge recently refused the government’s request to strike that case, allowing it to proceed.
