Hundreds turn out to protest gang violence in Metro Vancouver

Hundreds of people, including politicians and police, showed up at a rally in a suburb of Vancouver to protest gang violence in Metro Vancouver.

The region is reeling after a recent spate of gang violence —12 shootings in less than three weeks, seven of them fatal.

Rally organizer Paul Hillsdon, 19, called the two-hour demonstration in Surrey a huge success.

"Despite the weather — a little bit of rain — hundreds of people came out, they stood up. Their voice was heard. The pressure's on now to get these changes happening," he said.

Fellow organizer Trevor Loke, 20, agreed the day was a success — but cautioned there's much more work to be done.

"I think today is the first step in finding solutions. I think that the community came together —  they showed how strong we are and how much we care," he said.

"The pressure now is to make sure that this continues to be in the media — that we continue to try and find the proper solutions."

The rally drew local politicians including Surrey Mayor Diane Watts and Conservative MP Dona Cadman, whose own son was killed in a random attack in 1992.

Eileen Mohan, whose son Chris was among six people slain in a gang-style massacre in a Surrey apartment in 2007, said the rally was a step in the right direction.

"If we don't unite … then we will never win this game. It's a game for them. For us, it's our life. It's our son that died … and we don't want another innocent victim killed," she said.

The public is fed up with the brazen violence, Mohan said, and most sentences handed out for violent offences don't fit the crime.

She said judges must realize violent offenders need to be behind bars.