United for Old Growth rally draws a crowd and one surprise musical guest

Tiny pricks of snow were landing on the remaining crowd. It was hours before the snowfall would begin in earnest, but the front lawn of the provincial legislature buildings was a cold place to be standing still, listening to speakers.

Hundreds of people had gathered Saturday afternoon for a United for Old Growth rally with homemade signs to listen to activists, scientists, politicians, Indigenous leaders, and unexpectedly, Neil Young.

The actual Canadian legend made his way by train, car, and ferry, guitar and harmonica in tow, accompanied by his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, to add his voice to the melee calling for a halt to the way BC is managing our natural resources, especially forests.

“Oh, this old world keeps spinnin' 'round / It's a wonder, tall trees ain't layin' down / There comes a time,” he sang from his song, Comes a Time.

“It’s a precious, sacred thing, these old trees,” he said to the crowd. “Because they show us the power of nature when we are being threatened. They show us the past, and they show us our future. This has to do with Canada, it has to do with the ages if we’re lucky enough to have ages.”

Young closed his short set with what is possibly his best known song, Heart of Gold.

A few speakers later, another well-known Canadian, David Suzuki, spoke about the problem of assessing the impact of our activities—it’s impossible to do, because there is so much we don’t know, he said.

“We don’t know anything,” the eminent scientist repeated.

What we do know, Suzuki said, is that “Indigenous peoples are the only people on earth with a track record of living sustainably for more than a thousand years.” He called for control of the land to be returned to the Indigenous peoples, and for Canada to let Indigenous leaders show us the way to be sustainable.

Enter stage left, Chief David Knox of the Kwakwaka'wakw people on northern Vancouver Island. Knox spoke of the history seven generations behind us, and knowing that we’re looking seven generations into the future called for governments to listen to the people of the land.

It’s been almost two centuries since colonizers took over control, Knox said, as he walked through the history of governance on the Island, and simultaneous environmental decline.

“The government has to listen to the people of the land,” he said. “It’s more than just a moment for us. We think about seven generations ahead of time, and just not about the moment. It’s really time to gather and unite, to join hands and walk together to save what we have left on this poor mother earth that’s so mad at us right now.”