WATCH ABOVE: The death of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, his 5-year-old brother and his mother as they tried to seek refuge shocked the world and is sparking calls for change across Canada. Billy Shields reports from Montreal’s Bethune Park.
MONTREAL – Protesters gathered in Bethune Square Saturday afternoon to urge the Canadian government to get more involved in the refugee crisis mounting in Europe.
“These are people, millions of people who are fleeing a horrific war,” said Janet Cleveland, a McGill researcher who works with refugees.
“It’s shameful.”
About 500 protesters gathered at the square and marched downtown around 3 p.m. Saturday.
Protests in other Canadian cities are also occurring in places like Toronto and Regina in the wake of the death of Alan Kurdi, 3.
Photos of Kurdi’s lifeless body washed up on the shore of a Turkish beach have spurred activists in Canada to call on the federal government to act.
One protester, Bob Tittler, criticized what he termed a lack of action by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the crisis.
“It’s disgraceful.”
A grisly photograph of the boy’s body washed up on a Turkish beach as the Syrian attempted to flee to Europe has become a rallying point for immigration activists. Both he, his five-year-old brother and his mother died en route to Western Europe.
Protests are scheduled throughout the weekend in major Canadian cities.
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