City stands as one
‘At the end of the day, we are all Torontonians.’ One week after the horrific Yonge St. van rampage, thousands gather for a vigil to remember the victims and begin the healing
“In Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, we do not run away, we run to help others.” RABBI BARUCH FRYDMAN-KOHL
“We believe our city has been shaken, but only for a day, because we know who we are and we know what we stand for and we know what we will not stand for.”
Rabbi Yael Splansky’s remarks at a vigil Sunday in Mel Lastman Square captured the grief and resilience of thousands, who gathered near the North York site where a van rampage left 10 people dead and more than a dozen injured last week.
Imam Refaat Mohamed said that Canadians as a whole are like “one body. Always connected with one another.”
“If a part of a body gets hurt, the whole body feels the pain,” Mohamed said.
The evening began with a symbolic march down Yonge St. to the accompaniment of soft-sung hymns, with hundreds of residents retracing the path of destruction.
Carrying banners that boldly proclaimed #TorontoStrong, they joined hundreds more who crowded around the stage in the square more than an hour ahead of the 7 p.m. vigil.
Despite the unseasonable cold, by the time the memorial started, thousands filled concrete bleachers, huddled on grassy hills and spilled out to the edges of the square to pay their respects.
Most couldn’t see the stage and it was at times hard to hear the speakers, but the community stood for an hour — many for much longer. They were determined to reclaim their neighbourhood and their city in the wake of unthinkable tragedy.
“It’s good to be here, just to see that it hasn’t broken us, that we’re all going to get together and show support for all the lives lost,” said Catherine Van, who sat with two of her cousins on the grassy hill overlooking the square’s amphitheatre.
The past week has been difficult for Van, who lives in the neighbourhood with her husband and two young children.
She counts herself among the fortunate — she was at home with her baby when the van tore through the square.
But Van knows things could easily have turned out another way.
“I walk this area all the time. We were there at the exact same time the day before,” she said, fighting back tears.
The sombre, reflective tone of the event was set during sound checks and choir rehearsals before the official program began. The crowd watched a rendition of “Amazing Grace” in silence, the only background noise coming from a helicopter overhead. Spontaneous applause broke out for a group of first responders who filed in to the amphitheatre.
The city of Toronto and interfaith groups co-hosted Sunday’s vigil. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mayor John Tory were in attendance. None of the politicians spoke, ceding the stage to community leaders.
Stories of courage and compassion that emerged in the days following the devastation were acknowledged by many of the speakers onstage.
“Our sadness is mixed with gratitude for those who cradled the wounded, for our first responders,” said Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl. “In Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, we do not run away. We run to help others.”
“We gather this evening to find that our sorrow is reflected in the eyes of the strangers standing next to us. And so is our hope,” Rev. Alexa Gilmour of Windermere United Church told the crowd.
Willard Metzger, executive director of the Mennonite Church Canada, said “our hearts ache” with the question of how such a tragedy could happen.
“It’s never easy losing people we love,” Metzger said. “Disbelief becomes our only comfort.”
Metzger said there were “no right words” for such an occasion. “Sometimes agony can only be articulated in the language of tears,” he told the crowd.
Breaking up the speakers were a number of moving performances by choirs from communities across the city, kicked off by the drums of the Red Spirit Singers, a group composed of Indigenous people from the Ojibway, Cree, Mic Mac and Dakota nations.
Just before 6 p.m., Trudeau was at Olive Square, at Yonge and Finch — near where last week’s violence began. He signed a book of condolences with Tory by his side. Holding a bouquet of flowers, Gov. Gen. Julie Payette also signed the book. They then took part in the “walk to reclaim Yonge St.”
The sombre walk was split into two groups: one started on the north side of Olive Square, close to Finch Ave., and the other began at the south end, near Sheppard Ave.
The two groups met in the middle at Mel Lastman Square for the vigil. The stream of people marching on Yonge St. stretched from one side of the road to the other.
Toronto resident Khola Ranjha and her sister Rida managed to get a spot fairly close to the stage.
“At Finch station, especially if you just come up from the subway, you’ll see people from all races, and we’re all Torontonians at the end of the day,” Rida said. “That’s why we came here. Because when I heard about that, I felt that these were my people that were hurt and I wanted to be there for them.”
The concrete bleachers reserved for the public were already full two hours before the vigil was to start.
Lucy Griffioen, from Chatham, and her family were among the early attendees. Her son-in-law, Toronto police Sgt. Dave Ouellette, was one of the first responders to the scene last Monday.
“We’re here to pay our respect to the victims, their families,” Griffioen said. “It impacts everybody.”
Yonge is the spine of the city, the centre of many diverse neighbourhoods reflected in the crowd that gathered Sunday.
“We could have been there … it could have been us,” Willowdale resident Emin Atilgan said.
The square itself has a capacity of 3,000, but there were video screens for those in the area.
The city had said earlier that it expected upwards of 25,000 people at the vigil.