3 years on, Our London Family vigil draws hundreds of Londoners

Hundreds of Londoners gathered at a vigil Thursday to honour and remember “Our London Family.”

Thursday marked three years since four members of a London Muslim family — Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Afzaal and Salman’s 74-year-old mother Talat Afzaal — were killed, and their young son seriously injured, while out for a walk. The family was deliberately struck while waiting at the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road.

The vigil took place at the Our London Family memorial at the site of the attack, with several speakers from the community and a prayer to conclude.

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This year’s vigil is the first since the man responsible for the attack, Nathaniel Veltman, was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Veltman was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year, with the judge who sentenced him deeming his actions terrorism.

That designation is important, says Selma Tobah, a mentor with the organizing group Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia (YCCI).

“It’s a really important acknowledgement that he intended to intimidate the Muslim community in Canada, that it was an act of violence that was done to really drive a message,” Tobah said before the vigil. “It goes a long way to bringing justice forward, but there’s still a long way to go at the same time.”

YCCI is a group of Muslim youth who came together shortly after the attack, with the goal of empowering young people to help end Islamophobia. The group works with the city each year to organize the commemoration.

Tobah says while great progress has been made, such as the Thames Valley District School Board’s new anti-Islamophobia strategy, revealed Thursday, more needs to be done when tackling systemic Islamophobia.

“Understanding how the portrayal of Muslims as violent and scary really goes to influencing these acts of violence really goes a long way.”

Hate crimes against Muslims spiked last year, with London police statistics showing that the Muslim community is the third most targeted group in London.

One of the speakers, London lawyer Nawaz Tahir, called on the crowd to hold their elected officials accountable.

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“Three years after a National Summit on Islamophobia, many, many, many recommendations at the federal level and the provincial level remain unfulfilled. That just is not acceptable at all,” Tahir told the crowd. “My challenge to you, Premier Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau: Honour the family.”

Canada’s first special representative to combat Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, was also in attendance as a speaker, and spoke on how the attack is a reminder to not become complacent.

“The attack really reminded not only Muslims in Canada, but all Canadians, is that being an inclusive country or standing up for human rights … doesn’t happen by accident,” Elghawaby said. “To come together again and recommit our intention to work against these forces that exist to advance and protect those important values that we all care about so deeply.”

Canada is leading G7 countries in deadly attacks on Muslims, according to Elghawaby. She says the creation of her role and others like it is a step forward, but it’s a “whole-of-Canada issue.”

“We can continue to look for hope…. I think that’s the message we want to carry, that we can move forward, we can create legacies of change,” Elghawaby said. “We can stand together with fellow Londoners and fellow Canadians to ensure that we protect the values of social cohesion and equity that we all believe in so deeply.”