A large demonstration in support of Palestinians took place in Ottawa on Saturday.
This gathering was attended by thousands of people from Montreal, Quebec and Toronto.
For more than two hours, the crowd outside parliament chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.
The participants accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip with Canada’s complicity.
“We are complicit when we support the state of Israel […] who kills children, women and men,” a protester told TVA Nouvelles.
The demonstrators consider the current ceasefire to be inadequate. They are calling on Justin Trudeau to call for a permanent ceasefire.
“Trudeau needs to understand what Canadians want,” said another protester. “It’s time for him to call for a ceasefire.”
“Canada must stop exporting weapons to Israel,” said another. “War crimes are being committed right now and that is unacceptable.”
“We want this genocide to end,” says Sarah Shamy of the Palestinian Youth Movement. “We want Canadian complicity to end. We have more than 20,000 deaths.”
Participants in this rally then left Parliament Hill to march through the streets of downtown Ottawa under heavy police surveillance.