Climate activists march in cities across Canada

Thousands of people march for a better environment in Quebec City on Saturday, April 11, 2015. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Protesters gathered in the streets of Quebec City on Saturday, to push for action on climate change ahead of a provincial leaders’ meeting on the issue next week.

Activists from First Nations, environmental and students groups and other protesters who bussed in from across Canada attended the rally.

The organizers' goal is to encourage premiers to develop climate protections and renewable energy sources, and forego tar sand expansion and pipeline projects.

Provincial leaders will be in Quebec City on April 14, for a Council of the Federation meeting focused on climate change. The UN is also planning a major climate change conference later this year in Paris.

Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner for Green Peace, said protesters want to encourage government action on climate change and discourage pipeline construction.

"Even though there’s been a lot of awareness about climate change, there hasn’t been the type of action that we need to see happen, especially at a provincial and a federal level," Hudema told CTV News Channel on Saturday.

"So one of the biggest messages that the rally will carry is that our provincial and national leaders need to start acting to combat what is a global crisis," he added.

Louise Comeau, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, attended the rally in Quebec City on Saturday. She said that while some provinces have started to cut down on carbon pollution, their actions are being wiped out by oil expansion in western Canada.

"The province do have a lot of jurisdiction around pollutions controls (and) they are starting to come to the table and take responsibility … but those contributions are being overwhelmed by too much oil development in Alberta and Saskatchewan," Comeau told CTV News Channel.

"We've passed the point where the atmosphere can take more carbon pollution, so we need to find a way to slow that process down and shift Canada into a clean-energy system," she added.

Speaking to reporters at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday that Canada will unveils its greenhouse gas emission targets before the G7 meetings in June.

The Conservatives missed the March deadline for countries to submit emissions reduction targets ahead of the Paris conference. Harper said that the Canadian government wants to see what comes of the provincial talks before releasing federal benchmarks.

A day before the provincial summit in Quebec City, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard are expected to sign an agreement on a cap-and-trade system that will require companies to either restrict their greenhouse gas emissions or to purchase credits from other companies who have already done so.

The environment has been a hot topic this week, after an oil spill in Vancouver’s English Bay prompted debate over which level of government should be responsible for emergency response.

Solidarity marches were held in other cities across Canada on Saturday, including Vancouver, Saint John, Halifax, and Peterborough.

With files from The Canadian Press