Mile One down, 9,436 kilometres to go

David Suzuki kicks off cross-country tour in St. John's

February 1, 2007 - SAINT JOHN'S, NFLD - More than a thousand people jammed the Holy Heart auditorium in the heart of historic St. John's today as David Suzuki kicked off his cross-country "If YOU were Prime Minister..." tour.

Dr. Suzuki told the capacity crowd at the first stop on his 40-city national tour that Canadians are ahead of their leaders on issues like climate change and environmental protection. "The good news is, there are all sorts of solutions out there," Dr. Suzuki told the sold-out crowd. "The bad news is, our political leaders don't seem to be looking at them. Our job as citizens is to make sure they listen. That's what this tour is all about."

Dr. Suzuki, who is asking Canadians to "vote for the environment" at most of his events or online at the Foundation's website, urged the audience to keep the pressure on politicians of all parties.

"It's up to us. We know there are enormous opportunities. We have to keep the pressure up and demand change," Dr. Suzuki said.

The crowd engaged in a dialogue with Dr. Suzuki and also lined up to make 20-second "If YOU were Prime Minister..." videos in the auditorium's foyer. The clips will be uploaded to the tour's YouTube group through davidsuzuki.org.

Hundreds of people have already "voted for the environment" online on the Foundation's webpage. Most of those voters also told the Foundation what they would do if they were prime minister, including ensuring Canada keeps its pledge to meet its targets under the Kyoto protocol and increasing funding for green technologies.

Dr. Suzuki also attended a photo-op at Mile One of the Trans-Canada Highway as he embarked on his 30-day non-partisan tour. He's speaking to Canadians from St. John's to Victoria. He'll meet with local community and business groups, First Nations, athletes and others to discuss practical solutions to the challenges posed by global warming.

Dr. Suzuki's next stop is in Halifax. Then he works through PEI and New Brunswick over the weekend, heading to Quebec on Sunday.

The David Suzuki Foundation is committed to reducing and offsetting its greenhouse gas emissions by going Carbon Neutral. All of the major emissions associated with this tour, as well as from day-to-day Foundation operations (including staff commuting, paper use, electricity consumption, and air travel) are offset through investments in sustainable energy projects such as wind farms, solar installations, or energy efficiency projects.

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An itinerary of all tour stops is available online at: www.davidsuzuki.org

Jason Curran
Communications Specialist
David Suzuki Foundation
Mobile: 604-961-9591
E-mail: jcurran@davidsuzuki.org