On Sunday night, thousands of people gathered at Mel Lastman Square, in North York, for a vigil to commemorate the victims of last week’s Yonge Street van attack. The evening’s musical performances and speeches from interfaith community leaders were intended to provide a moment of healing for a city rattled by random violence. Here’s what it looked like:
The evening’s hashtag was on the marquee at the Toronto Centre for the Arts:
Attended the #interfaith memorial #vigil with friends. Considering how much crying I did this past week, I'm actually surprised I didn't do it here though I did end up getting really close at more than one point. Especially when they started reciting the names of the ten who died. I should have gotten vids of the interfaith prayers though. There were speakers from several major religions– Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian– and many of them ended with a prayer from their faith, often in another language and despite not knowing the meaning, the words sounded so calming and beautiful and heartfelt each time. I also should have gotten a pic of the puppy who was giving free hugs at the vigil for @pocasmine, but I got nervous and shy with the owner there. Also-also I should have gotten free hugs from the puppy who was giving free hugs, but yeah… shy and nervous. #Toronto #TorontoStrong #TorontoTheGood #TorontoVigil #YongeFinch
A post shared by J. P. Apr 29, 2018 at 9:30pm PDT
There was a strong turnout at Mel Lastman Squaure:
Flowers and trinkets brought by attendees became a colourful shrine:
The evening’s service was interfaith:
John Tory was there, along with Justin Trudeau and governor general Julie Payette:
Here’s Justin Trudeau adding to the memorial pile:
Premier Kathleen Wynne was there, as well:
And here’s an aerial view:
