Torontonians in Paris gain new admiration for city in wake of attacks
"The grief is very deep," says Toronto expat in Paris
Hundreds of Toronto residents turned up at Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday afternoon to show their support for Paris and the people of France.
Many of them were from France, and still have close ties to their homeland. They were shaken and saddened by the terrorist attacks that have so far killed 129 people.
There are also Torontonians living in Paris. Vivian Song is a journalist from Toronto now living in Paris, and Rahaf Harfoush is a digital anthropologist from Toronto, also now living in Paris.
The overriding feeling is, it could have been me. It could have been us.- Vivian Song
Both spoke on Metro Morning on Monday about the terrorist attacks.
Harfoush was at home, in a neighbourhood very near to the Bataclan concert venue. When she heard the news, she said her "stomach dropped."
Knowing the neighbourhood as she does, she knew it was packed with young people on a Friday night. She began to fear for her friends.
"We spent most of Friday night and most of Saturday trying to track down everyone we know," said Harfoush.
She said one of her friends ate at Le Petit Cambodge on Thursday, a day before it would become a target of gunfire.
Song said she was in the same position.
"The overriding feeling is, it could have been me. It could have been us," she said. "I've been to the Bataclan. I've eaten at Le Petit Cambodge."
Song is encouraged that so many people she's spoken with in the wake of the attacks are determined to live their lives despite the possibility of violence.
"The grief is very deep," she said. "People are here to support the victims but also to — the sense that I got — was to tell the terrorists, we're not going to let this defeat us."
Harfoush said she still feels scared on a basic level. She said her friends are going out, but, "You can tell, you can see fear by how people are feeling fear at the slightest false alarm."
"Police have actually been advising Parisians to stay home, they've banned public demonstrations until Thursday. And yet people were just filling up the Place de la Republique and all the places that attacks occurred," said Song.
Song said the response to the attacks has given her a new admiration for Parisians.
Listen to the Canadian expats by hitting the play button on this story.