Reclaiming My Story
Kira Young in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Eillin Delapaz-Aceves
July 22, 2026
By Kira Young, Youth Plaintiff in La Rose v. His Majesty the King
When I was diagnosed in high school with a rare autoinflammatory disease, going to a doctor’s office down the road wasn’t an option. Living in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the closest place I could access the specialized treatment I needed was Edmonton: over 1000 kilometers away. This experience is common for people across rural, remote, and Northern Canada.
For my family and many others, medical travel means time away from school, work, friends, and family. It takes a unique toll.
This year, I reclaimed the route. To raise awareness for healthcare access disparities and to raise money for a national charity, Cassie + Friends, that supports kids with rheumatic diseases like mine, I biked 1600 kilometers from Yellowknife to Edmonton. My team raised over $82,000 Canadian dollars.
After biking for 10 days, crossing the finish line felt empowering. I was arriving at the hospital on my own terms, for a cause I care about. People gathered to cheer me on: Yellowknifers, doctors, kids with rheumatic diseases. It was really special to reclaim a part of my story, turning it into something meaningful to others too.
Photo courtesy of Kira
Now, I’m approaching a different finish line: trial for La Rose v. His Majesty the King.
In October, myself and 14 other youth plaintiffs will walk into court for the first youth-led federal climate case to reach trial in Canadian history. We are challenging the Canadian government and their role in contributing to the climate crisis, violating our Charter Rights and Freedoms.
In 2023, the climate crisis affected my community dramatically. For days, we tracked a nearby wildfire in the news. We heard it was under control. And then, all of a sudden, there was an evacuation order. My family had less than two days to pack up our lives. We had to decide what to take: what clothes we might need, what photo albums fit in the back of the car. We had to leave our home.
The worst part was having to leave my mom behind. She was an essential health care worker and stayed in our community to help.
We left on the only single lane highway out of Yellowknife towards Edmonton, and were on the road for close to 20 hours. My mom was eventually able to fly out and join us, but my family was displaced for weeks, bouncing in-between hotels and friends’ places as we waited to be told we could return.
Scrolling through the news this summer, you’ll see dramatic heat waves in the east, flooding in the west, and fires in the north. And then, side-by-side, are headlines about pipelines and scrapped emissions targets. Just recently, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada is unlikely to reach our 2030 emissions reduction targets.
The climate crisis is not something we can postpone. Pushing our emissions targets back will only continue to exacerbate increasingly familiar wildfires, floods, and heatwaves. The climate crisis is harming us now, so emissions need to be reduced immediately.
That’s why we need La Rose.
If we win, Canada will prepare and implement a court-ordered climate recovery plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize our energy system in line with what scientists say is necessary to stabilize the climate system.
We’re asking for accountability. We’re asking for change. We’re asking for Canada to do what is necessary to secure our future, and to stop taking actions that put our future in peril.
What happened to me and my family is not a headline. It's a reality shared with thousands of others who have had their lives disrupted due to the climate crisis.
My personal philosophy is to take challenges life throws at me and shape them for good. Being a plaintiff is how I’m living that out. It’s how I’m reclaiming a part of my story: my experiences weren’t for nothing. I hope that my story will represent a component of many Northerners’ stories. My testimony can bring the country one step forward to a livable future.
Canada is not helpless in the face of the climate crisis. There is a path forward. There are actionable steps that can be taken today to secure tomorrow. Now is Canada’s chance to learn from the adversity the nation has faced because of the climate crisis and turn it around for good.