A peary caribou, honey bee, American pika, monarch butterfly and even a polar bear came together on Monday morning to make a phone call to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Assisted by their “human friend” (and teacher) Kim Wallace, five Écoles Desrochers students took part in David Suzuki’s ‘Call the PM and David Suzuki calls you’.

Wallace was the human representative for her “voiceless brothers and sisters” and asked prime minister Harper to “represent us well at Copenhagen.”

The Grade 9 students asked prime minister Harper to take into consideration the impacts of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions on these animals during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this month.

“We would like, in our own way, to encourage you to use your power to jump start big changes towards a healthier environment at the upcoming UN World Summit,” Wallace said.

The group spoke on behalf of their animals, and the environment in general in an effort to highlight some points for the prime minister at the conference.

“Hello Mr. Harper, I’m a Canadian monarch butterfly and I’m speaking to you on behalf of all the monarch butterflies in Canada,” Sabrina Charlebois said.

“Today, my fellow butterflies and I are facing hard times due to climate change and human activity.”

Ayla Paltzat, the peary caribou, explained about the impact of warmer temperatures on the caribou’s habitat.

“Due to an increase in greenhouse gases, the amount of snowfall has also increased, the snow is getting compacted due to this increase in temperature and then icing over creating a greater opportunity for wolf attacks,” she said.

For Bernice Addison, the survival of the polar bear should be of top importance to the Prime Minister.

“My habitat, the Arctic, is experiencing the largest consequence of global warming than any other place in the world,” Addison said. “Unless we reduce our greenhouse gases two-thirds of our polar bear population will be gone within thirty years.”

Honey bee Ashley Hayes, pointed out that “parasites, viruses, pesticides, climate change and even radiation from phones interfere with bee navigation.”
“Please Mr. Harper, represent us in Copenhagen and vote for a reduction in greenhouse emissions,” she said.

Though the phone call focused on the five animals selected by the students, they were also concerned with the greater impacts of global warming on the environment.

“Many other alpine animals are migrating northward to find better habitat but unfortunately migration is almost impossible for us pika,” said Maddy McKensie, who was dressed as an American pika.

“If we disappear the rest of our ecosystem is sure to follow, so please help to save my home, my species and my ecosystem.”

The students will be placing their video onto the website which currently has over fifty videos of Canadians calling the prime minister. Thus far, the entrants include everybody from NHL stars to elders, and young children.

The UN Climate Summit is being held in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 – 18.