Hundreds protest at consulate in T.O.
Gathering also became vigil for the six victims of shooting at Quebec mosque Sunday
Hundreds of people shut down University Ave. outside the U.S. Consulate in Toronto Monday for a demonstration in response to the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Protesters began lining the sidewalk outside the consulate around 8 a.m., but quickly spread into the street.
They carried signs with slogans that read, “Do not scapegoat Muslim people,” “We will not go quietly,” and “Help refugees escape war.”
Nazerah Shaikh, her daughter and her three nieces carried signs reading: “The 6ix supports the Seven,” with the flags of the seven predominantly Muslim countries against which Trump has levelled travel bans and restrictions.
“We’re disgusted and sad. That’s why we’re here,” Shaikh said.
“We do have close friends in Detroit who had to cancel travel plans because of these policies. Their citizenship is pending, and they have family here that they want to come and see, but they’re not sure they can.”
Toronto’s protest occurred alongside a similar one in Ottawa where about 2,000 people formed a human chain around the U.S. Embassy, braving freezing temperatures.
In Toronto, many protesters sat in the southbound lanes of University Ave., where they chanted, “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here” as police officers looked on. Others jumped and stamped their feet to keep warm. Organizer Dave Meslin said the protest had also become an impromptu vigil for the six victims of the Quebec mosque shooting on Sunday night.
“Sympathies and condolences with our Muslim brothers and sisters in Quebec. We want to be a sanctuary city,” said Ahmad Gaied, an organizer with the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Gaied is the son of a first-generation Libyan immigrant family. He said amid the Trump-like rhetoric in Canada from Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch and others, it’s important to remember what Canadian values really mean.
Leitch has drawn criticism for advocating screening of potential newcomers for so-called “Canadian values.”
“My parents love this country,” Ahmad said, who was wearing a Libyan flag as a cape, “and I love this country just as much. Everyone is welcome here and no one is illegal.”
The protest remained peaceful all morning, disrupted only once by an irate man shouting that the protesters were hypocrites who couldn’t see the danger of what he called “extreme Islam countries.” The man, who refused to give his name, got into a number of shouting matches with demonstrators before being asked to leave.
The crowd moved to Nathan Phillips Square around 9 a.m., where the “no hate, no fear” chant continued in front of Toronto city hall for about 30 minutes before the demonstrators made their way back to the consulate. With files from Emily Mathieu