'Arms are for hugging,' Montreal students say at march for tighter gun control measures
March For Our Lives rallies held across North America after school shooting in Florida
Young Montreal students marched through the streets today as part of a larger movement calling for tighter gun control laws in the U.S. and Canada.
The Montreal demonstrations coincided with a larger rally being held in Washington, D.C.
Lexington Vickery, a grade six student at Roslyn elementary school in Westmount, organized a march that weaved its way through Westmount this morning.
"I feel like today I've made a really big difference," Lexington told CBC News as the march neared Dawson College, the site of a 2006 mass shooting.
The March For Our Lives, an event in Washington, D.C., was organized by students in the U.S., who were pushed to act after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others last month.
'Bigger than I expected'
In Montreal, Lexington marched alongside children and parents from the English Montreal School Board, which shared news of the event in its monthly newsletter.
"I like that almost everyone who came is helping a little bit more to support people who have been affected by the shooting," she said.
According to Lexington's mom, Amy Creighton, students from the West Island and the Southwest turned up to show their support, as well as numerous adults.
"It's bigger than I expected," Creighton said.
Many attendees bore signs that read slogans like "arms are for hugs" and "books not bullets," Lexington said.
Liberal MP Marc Miller was also on hand for the demonstration.
"This is great, having people exercise what is a fundamental right in democracy, which is to have your voice heard," he said, noting that the Liberals introduced legislation last week aimed at tightening gun control laws.
Some Quebec advocates, however, felt the bill didn't go far enough.
Meanwhile, Montrealers staged a larger march nearby at Cabot Square. It was organized in solidarity with American students affected by school shootings, according to organizer Phil Lord, a law student at McGill.
The march ended at the American Consulate.
Polytechnique survivor among those marching in Washington
Tens of thousands of people marched in the U.S. capital.
Among them was Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the deadly 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal.
She's attending to honour the students of Polytechnique.
"If in Quebec, in Canada, we're tired of assault weapons … imagine how ordinary citizens in the U.S. must be tired of these attacks and must want to feel real legislative changes," Provost told Radio-Canada on Thursday.
Marches were also held in cities elsewhere across the U.S. and Canada, from St. John's to Vancouver.
With files from Radio-Canada and Sarah Leavitt