Local marchers fete Paris victims
Hundreds of people held French flags and posters reading “Je Suis Charlie” and “Not Afraid” as they quietly marched through downtown Vancouver on Sunday in a rally for freedom of speech.
The “silent” march was organized in honour of the victims of recent attacks in Paris, where 17 people were killed over three days in assaults on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery.
Al-Qaida’s Yemen branch has said it co-ordinated the attack on the magazine to avenge the honour of the Prophet Muhammad, a frequent target of the weekly’s satire.
Richard Lengrand, a native of France, brought his two kids to the rally.
“Our grandparents fought very hard — died — for freedom of expression, and we need for our children to be able to say what they want,” he said.
The local French community was out in force for the march, which began and ended in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery with the singing of France’s anthem, La Marseillaise. Organizer Pierre Touzel estimated the crowd at 700 to 800.
Philippe and Anita DaudeLagrave braved a typically wet Vancouver day to show solidarity with a rally in Paris that attracted tens of thousands, including more than 40 world leaders.
“I want to pay my respects to the victims and pray for them,” Philippe Daude-Lagrave said. “I’m French and, of course, supportive of this movement to react against this barbaric event and to try to make an end to it forever.”
Rossana Caritey attended the march with her French husband and his family, as well as her two kids.
“I’m here to support free speech, as well as to support the French community,” Caritey said. “It’s a universal freedom and value that we all need to protect.”
Representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths all spoke to the crowd, stressing the importance of mutual understanding and compassion in the wake of events that might otherwise divide adherents of their religions.