The Council of Canadians Montreal chapter joined with thousands of people on Monday night following the attack at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec that left six people dead and eight wounded.
The Canadian Press reports, “In Montreal, subway entrances and streets were swarmed as several thousand people made their way to a vigil. Many carried candles and openly wept as local Muslim speakers went onstage to denounce Islamophobia. Others carried signs and stood atop a snowbank chanting anti-racist slogans as a crowd cheered below.”
The Suburban notes, “Last Monday night’s vigil for the victims of the Quebec City Mosque murders saw thousands of Montrealers stand out in the cold to demonstrate their solidarity with the city’s Muslim community, sympathy for the families of the victims and vigilance against all forms of hate and racism.”
The article adds, “Although the rally was meant to begin at around 6.00 o’clock in the evening, hundreds of people were still making their way through the Park Avenue metro station in order to join the thousands of people who were already standing out in the cold. Dressed for the weather, the crowd reflected Montreal’s cultural and ethnic diversity as many languages could be heard from any given spot in the crowd. As various speakers continued to address the crowd in French, English and Arabic, they went on to denounce the racism and that’s already beginning to take its place in Québec’s political dialogue.”
And CTV highlights, “Sameer Zuberi helped organize a vigil near the Park metro station in Montreal, at the corner of Jean Talon Blvd. and Park Ave. Thousands showed up to convey their solidarity with the victims of the attack and their families. He said this vigil was organized by a group of human rights activists. Half of the crowd was non-Muslim, showing unity after the attack on the religious group. No politicians were given the microphone to speak, but some were there to take part.”
On Sunday night, The Council of Canadians said, “Our love and thoughts are with the families and community. We must all stand together against Islamophobia and hate.”
We also call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reject US President Donald Trump’s ban that prohibits people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, for the Minister of Immigration to present a plan in the House of Commons on how to address this situation, and for the federal government to immediately rescind the Safe Third Country agreement with the United States.
The Council of Canadians supports diversity and inclusion, and rejects racism and Islamophobia.
