'The whole world is disgusted': Hundreds rally in Ottawa against U.S. gun violence
Hundreds of Ottawa high school students, parents and other supporters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with a major U.S. march calling for an end to gun violence.
The rally was one of more than 800 demonstrations taking place in response to a shooting last month at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others.
"Hopefully the U.S. politicians will see that the whole world is disgusted with the lack of action," said Bob Parsons, 60, whose son attends an American university.
"It's within their grasp to do something about it. Yet they won't."
Saturday's March For Our Lives demonstrations were led by students and youth demanding better gun control in the U.S. The largest demonstration took place in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest, bearing signs with such slogans as "We Are the Change," "No More Silence" and "Keep NRA Money Out of Politics."
At least eight rallies were being held Saturday in Canadian cities, including Ottawa.
From Parliament Hill to U.S. Embassy
Students from high schools across Ottawa organized the local march, which started at 11 a.m. on Parliament Hill and gradually made its way to the U.S. Embassy.
"We want to show other students, Americans, that we're with them — and we want to march alongside them," said Ainsley Skelly, a Grade 11 student at Nepean High School and one of the organizers of the local protest.
"We want to send a message to politicians that they need to do something, you know," Skelly said before the march got underway. "No more thoughts and prayers. We need to take action."
Tried to deliver demands to embassy
Protesters tried to deliver a letter to the embassy, demanding legislative changes to better regulate the possession of firearms, but they were stopped by security.
Organizers said they would send the letter to the embassy in an email and over Twitter.
"It's telling the U.S. ambassador [that] we care, and that we're going to make a fuss, and that it's not over until gun control is everywhere in the U.S.," said Magda Kalff, another protest organizer and a Grade 11 student at Blyth Academy.
"If [your school] can't be safe, what does that say for the state of our education?"