Why are powerful men afraid of you? Greta answers

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During the Montreal strike, a reporter asked Thunberg: "Why do you think grown men in powerful positions are so afraid of (inaudible) you?"

Thunberg answered: "I don't understand why grown-ups would mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead... We've become too loud for people to handle so they try to silence us. So we should also take that as a compliment."

Thunberg, who inspired the Fridays of Future movement, is leading the Montreal climate change strike on Friday where U.N. aviation leaders are gathering to debate plane emission targets.

The Swedish 16-year-old spoke at the protest, which is taking place less than a month before a federal election where the environment is one of the top issues for voters, according to polls.

Both Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Green Party chief Elizabeth May will also be joining in the march, while New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh will march on the west coast. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is not participating.

At a campaign stop on Thursday, Trudeau said he looked forward to marching in Montreal "to fight for the environment."

Both Trudeau and May have focused on their climate action plans ahead of the Oct. 21 election, but Trudeau has also had to defend his decision to buy and expand a major oil pipeline in western Canada.

Last month, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic to the United States from Britain in a zero-carbon emissions boat to protest air travel emissions, and she denounced world leaders earlier this week for failing to tackle climate change.

She has inspired millions of young people to take to the streets over climate change since starting solitary weekly protests outside Swedish parliament a year ago.

On Friday, protests started in Asia and then continued in Europe. Tens of thousands of students kicked things off in New Zealand, and Thunberg herself has been tweeting images from marches held in dozens of cities around the world.