SUBMITTED PHOTO Ann Cognito departs Medicine Hat Monday, April 29, 2019 on a self-propelled scooter to Ottawa to deliver a message to government about the need to address climate change as a matter of urgency. Cognito hopes to reach Ottawa in July after her Expedition/Walk to Awaken The Nation.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Ann Cognito departed Medicine Hat Monday on a self-propelled scooter to Ottawa where she says she will deliver a message to government about the need to do more regarding climate change.
“I want to explain quite bluntly that we simply don’t have time,” said Cognito, 50, citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report by the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Cognito, who lives in Calgary, says this report released last fall is “beyond shocking,” adding there is just 12 years left before climate change is “utterly irreversible.”
She says people are still under the impression there is an easy way out, but the earth is beyond that at this stage. Cognito believes government also needs to start telling the blunt truth about climate change rather than making the message more palatable for the public.
Cognito says she doesn’t trust the government on this anymore, and says a “co-governing body” needs to be established to work alongside government.
Cognito says the environment has always mattered to her, and she has personally been able to live off grid. She believes this is something people need to re-learn. People have become used to conveniences and now regard those as essentials.
She has never owned a car or even had a drivers licence.
“The world does not need another car,” said Cognito.
Cognito has fibromyalgia and symptoms from other physical injuries plus anxiety issues, suffering from depression and PTSD. Her dog, Mr. Myrtle Sir, a four-year-old Jamaican shepherd, is her support dog. Trotting along beside the scooter is a bit much for the canine, so she pulls a small trailer behind the self-propelled scooter to carry both her dog and her equipment. She lives on a disability pension and more recently began receiving AISH.
“I don’t want to raise money, I want to raise awareness,” said Cognito.
She says if she did not make this journey she would not know how she would face her son in 10 years time when he asks what she did about climate change.
Extinction Rebellion is a grassroots movement that began in the U.K. and has influenced Cognito’s thinking and motivated her.
Cognito hopes to reach Ottawa in July having accomplished her Expedition/Walk to Awaken The Nation. There will be no flying or driving back to Calgary at that stage. Cognito says she will return home on the same scooter.
Since leaving Calgary she has been doing 14 to 50 kilometres each day. The cold weather front that moved into southern Alberta on Friday created some challenges. Along the highway, while in the process of putting on warmer clothes, her safety vest and sunglasses blew away in the wind.
After spending the weekend in Medicine Hat she planned to reach Irvine on Monday before resting for the night and then continuing the journey.
You can support Cognito’s efforts at change.org
