It is being called the largest protest in the city’s history.

The Montreal Climate March on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 drew hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, to march on the streets of downtown Montreal calling for immediate action against climate change. Friday’s rally was a part of the Global Climate Strike, a multi-city movement being led by kids — one in particular.

Greta Thunberg, age 16, began her rise to international fame by skipping class to protest outside the Swedish parliament, holding a sign that read, “Skolstrejk för klimatet”; which means “School strike for climate” in English.

It wasn’t long before other students joined her, organizing strikes in their own communities under the name “Fridays for Future.”

In just over a year since she first occupied the Stockholm parliament grounds in August, 2018, Thunberg has spoken before world leaders demanding immediate action to meet the Paris Agreement targets. She is the catalyst of what is being called the “Greta Thunberg effect” which describes the political, economical, and social outcomes of her activism.

"Je suis Greta"

A child holds a sign that reads, “Je suis Greta” in the Parc Mont Royal on Sept. 27, 2019. Behind him a crowd of protestors walk toward the George-Étienne Cartier Monument where the demonstration was supposed to begin.

"How dare you"

People pile on the George-Étienne Cartier Monument, holding signs promoting climate activism. One quotes Greta Thunberg’s address to the U.S. congress just the week before in which she told leaders: “How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.”

"For the Greta good"

Annalyn Ervas takes the Metro back to Dawson College where she started marching two hours before the event began. Ervas, the vice president of Dawson’s student union, had helped lead a group of protestors to the English language universities; Concordia, McGill, chanting and gathering marchers.

Exhausted, she said the number of people at the march was overwhelming, “But it shows how important this is to the youth.”

Thunberg came to Montreal for the Sept. 27 protest. Before the march began she met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been widely criticized by climate change activists for his party’s decision to go ahead with a multi-billion dollar pipeline expansion project.

Multiple reports quote Thuberg saying Trudeau is “not doing enough” in terms of climate change. The sentiment was echoed in her speech to the 500,000 Montrealers after the march, where she said that Canada is, “…a nation that eligibly is a climate leader. And Sweden is also a nation that is eligibly a climate leader. And in both cases it sadly means absolutely nothing. Because in both cases it’s just empty words.”

That same day Trudeau tweeted that, if re-elected, the Liberal Party would plant two billion trees. He also told reporters that he would use the revenue from the controversial pipeline to combat climate change.

Trudeau took part in Friday’s march, walking alongside posters criticizing his leadership. At one point a protestor was arrested for, allegedly, throwing an egg at him.

The march officially began at noon. Protestors gathered at the George-Étienne Cartier Monument in Mount Royal Park, so many that Parc Avenue and the sidewalks were blocked.

Motorists were advised before hand to avoid Berri St., Peel St., St-Joseph Blvd. and de la Commune. Public transit was free that day, though certain bus routes were affected.

Teachers and students walked out of the classroom. Working professionals also took the day off.

The September 27 global march was the second event in the Week for Future. An estimated 7 million people around the world came out on both Fridays.

“Through history, the most important changes in society have come from the bottom up, from grassroots,” Thunberg said in her speech after the march. She then noted that over the past week the number of protestors had amounted to one of the biggest demonstrations in history. “The people have spoken and we will continue to speak until our leaders listen. We are the change and change is coming.”

— Information sourced from Global News, Post Media, CBC, The Canadian Press, and Vice Media