TORONTO - Canada's world-leading embrace of Earth Hour should alert the country's politicians to the deep and widespread level of concern people have about global warming, organizers said Sunday.
From coast to coast, landmarks went dark while Canadians in unsurpassed numbers ate by candlelight, counted stars, danced in the dark or listened to music on wind-up radios to mark Saturday evening's 60-minute lights-out event.
"Maybe that mirrors our sense of frustration with inaction on climate change,'' said Julia Langer with World Wildlife Fund Canada.
"We've got emissions going up, not down. People know that climate change is a problem that is starting to affect us -- from Arctic melting to the pine-beetle infestations to droughts -- and getting a sense that we aren't doing enough.''
Electricity usage dipped noticeably during Earth Hour. In Ontario, for example, it fell by more than five per cent and by 8.7 per cent in Toronto, the event's flagship Canadian city.
The flicker of a few candles did little to dispel the darkness outside Toronto's city hall, where thousands of people jammed together to hear pop star Nelly Furtado sing her hit "Turn out the light'' as part of a free concert.
"It brings that awareness, which we need,'' said John Wigham as he clutched a candle in the chilly night air. "If people aren't thinking about it, then nothing is going to happen.''
That kind of thinking is exactly what World Wildlife Fund was hoping to achieve when it dreamed up an idea it hoped would engage 75,000 people last year in Sydney, Australia. Instead, about two million people took part in the city in 2007 and the event quickly grabbed imaginations around the world this year.
Supporters said people realized that in disconnecting the lights, they were connecting with millions of others who share the same concern -- and that small individual acts can add up to a huge difference.
"Turning off your lights for an hour is not going to save the planet, but the whole point was to create an event where we could signal that we have concerns, expectations and a sea change has to happen,'' Langer said.
"The real point was not only to flip the switch on the wall, but flip the switch in our brains.''
Ultimately, Langer said, Earth Hour was about demonstrating that people want action on climate change -- and Canada's political leaders had better take note.
"(It's) a message that will be ignored at their peril,'' she said.
The message in Canada appeared unmistakably loud -- with the country leading the way globally on a per-capita basis, event organizers said.
More than 100,000 Canadians registered via the Internet for Earth Hour -- another 775,000 signalled participation via the popular Facebook website -- putting Canadians at the top of the global participation pack.
In all, more than 160 cities, towns and hamlets across the country marked the occasion -- as did more than 4,000 businesses.
In cities such as Calgary that weren't officially part of Canada's contribution, a handful of restaurants and coffee bars shut off the lights anyway and offered a place for people to get aboard.
One place, Cafe Koi, encouraged patrons to order dishes that didn't involve cooking or energy-intensive preparation.
Owner Philip Wong said the night was about trying to educate his clientele, not a gimmick.
Having a pot of tea over candlelight with her friend, Jeanne Savoy said people want to make a difference.
"I would almost like to see this happen a lot more rather than once a year -- maybe a monthly thing,'' Savoy said.
"If it gets people out and it gets people thinking about this, why not?''
