Celia Auclair's Story

My name is Celia Auclair, I am 35 years old and I live in Vernon where I work as a caterer.

I grew up aware of global warming as I have a father that was preaching gloom and doom already in the early 80's. When I moved away from my dad I forgot about my dad's "apocalyptic" views. I became a tree planter and soon after focused on raising my family, growing a garden, feeding my children healthy food, etc. I don't own a TV and so I lost touch with current affairs on global warming, and with my family having a relatively light footprint on the planet, I didn't have the worries about the future that I used to have when growing up.

In May 2006, a friend invited me to go see Al Gore’s movie "An Inconvenient Truth" which played for 12 weeks straight at the Towne theatre in Vernon. It was like waking up from a state of dormancy. All of a sudden, what I knew as a child but didn't fully understand was explained to me in common language. The mountain of scientific evidence and the clear depiction of the process of warming, already going faster than first predicted... the chain reaction of events that are likely to follow... the fact that our population growth has exploded exponentially in the past 50 years... and the fact that I have 3 children under the age of 12 years...

Immediately it was clear to me that nothing was more important than to take action now, to start changing myself and to find ways to engage in positive action in order to offer hope to future generations. In the following months I started reading the literature and searching on the internet for more information. I also felt the call to connect with people abut this issue, so last December I did a cross-Canada road trip to visit and discuss my thoughts with friends and acquaintances.

The response I got from everyone was universal; people are very concerned. Whether they think that we can get out of this mess is another story, but they are concerned. Many are too busy with their kids, jobs, and routines to do much about it. They do their little part, and for most of them, it's not possible to live a fully sustainable way of life. However, their good intentions are there and many people would jump on board if the government took stronger leadership to address the problem straight on.

Upon my return, I met again with Mary whom I had first met last November. We agreed to start planning this BC-wide cycle tour for action on climate change.

If we remain passive, a runaway warming trend is unavoidable. I choose to take action; it's only by our collective action that we are going to create a good future for future generations. I also choose to promote sustainable living, as it is the ensemble of solutions that are needed to address climate change. I am full of enthusiasm about getting on the road on my bike this summer, and about the people, ideas and projects that we are going to encounter along the way.