Need a dose of some inspiration for this rainy Wednesday morning? I sure needed some when I walked into the CCAN office this morning.

Thanks to the Canadian Youth Delegation to the COP17 talks in Durban for just the antidote I needed.

Six young Canadians did a very brave thing today. They turned their backs on their government in a very public way. The Canadian Youth Delegation to COP17 stood during Environment Minister Peter Kent’s speech defending dirty tar sands oil — which I was arrested in protest of just a few months ago — and they turned their backs on him, literally.

Wearing t-shirts that said “People before polluters” on the front and “TURN YOUR BACKS ON CANADA” on the back, these six youth turned their backs to their environment minister in protest of Canada’s attempts to thwart progress towards a binding international climate treaty.

Hear, hear, guys. Thank you to Matthew Chisholm, Karen Rooney, James Hutt, Sonia Grant, Brigette DePape, and Meghan McCarthy for the jolt of energy I needed this morning to continue the fight to save our planet.