The Right to be Cold, a hot Item in Thunder Bay

The books were flying off the Chapters Table at Waverley library as the large audience lined up to buy 'The Right to be Cold" by environmental activist, Shelia Watt-Cloutier.  The book is on the short list for Canada Reads.

The author was introduced by Cathy Alex who talked about her own adventures in the arctic. Watt-Cloutier discussed her childhood growing up in the arctic living a traditional Inuit life until she was sent down south to school at an early age. She outlined the problems faced by the northern peoples caused by global warming and her work with various organizations including the UN to press the message that global warming is a human rights issue for the people who live there. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize for her work She noted that climate change does not only affect the animals of the north but also the people who live there. For many years the local people have noticed the changes caused by global warming: the thinning of the ice, the changes in marine animals, the arrival of new species.