Ottawa students to rally against U.S. gun violence
Student-led march in the wake of Parkland shooting will end at U.S. Embassy
Hundreds of Ottawa high school students are expected to rally Saturday in solidarity with a much larger U.S. march calling for an end to gun violence.
The March For Our Lives is being led by students and youth from across the U.S., who were pushed to act after a shooting last month at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others.
It's expected to draw tens of thousands of people today to the streets of Washington, D.C.
High school students in Ottawa will also be marching Saturday "in solidarity with American students," said Ainsley Skelly, a Grade 11 student at Nepean High School one of the organizers of the local protest.
No more thoughts and prayers. We need to take action.- Ainsley Skelly, march organizer
"We want to show other students, Americans, that we're with them — and we want to march alongside them," Skelly said.
"We want to send a message to politicians that they need to do something, you know. No more thoughts and prayers. We need to take action."
From Parliament Hill to U.S. Embassy
Ottawa's rally — organized by students from high schools across the city — will get underway at 11 a.m. on Parliament Hill, Skelly said.
Marchers will then proceed to the U.S. Embassy on Sussex Drive, Skelly said.
The march is expected to draw students, parents, and "anyone else who wants to come," she added.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 300 people had indicated on the March For Our Lives Ottawa Facebook page they would be taking part in the rally.
Ottawa police say there will be no established road closures, but rather a rolling blockade to ensure the marchers' safety.
'Kids being tired of their friends being taken away from them'
Skelly said she felt "sick" when she saw the initial reports about last month's massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — similar to how she felt when 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
She said she's hopeful that the wave of protests that have emerged following the Parkland shooting — spurred on, she suggested, by the widespread adoption of social media — could finally bring about changes to gun legislation in the U.S.
"I think it's just people being tired of losing other people. Kids being tired of their friends being taken away from them," she said.
"Just [the feeling of] being done with it — just being done with being victims."
Along with Ottawa's march, more than 800 anti-gun violence demonstrations are expected to take place today.