Kitchener holds vigil for Quebec City mosque shooting

People from across Waterloo Region attended a vigil Monday night at Kitchener city hall to commemorate victims of the deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque on the weekend.

Politicians, religious leaders and ordinary residents of many faiths – or none at all – gathered to honour the people killed and wounded in the Sunday night shooting, and to call for an end to Islamophobia. 

"It's still shocking when it happens," said Sarah Shafiq. 

"It's another incident that shakes up the community but we are receiving a lot of positive messages from our family, from our friends here in the community and the community members. That's really heart warming." 

"We are here together as a community to stand up against hate, that is the most important thing," said Kitchener councillor, Paul Singh.

"You don't think something like that could happen in Canada. But that's why we need to stay united and that's the important thing to take from this."

"My heart went out to these people," said Louisette Langteigne. 

"We're all family. We all have husbands, wives, children and we have to stand united for love and for justice and to reach out to one another to let everyone know that our community is not based on hate. It's based on being together and living together peacefully. That's what our community is about."

"I came here to stand with the community to remember those who lost their lives in a senseless act of violence," said Fauzia Mazhar. 

"We would never expect something like this in Canada...Why Canada? A place where we are so proud of our diversity, we are so proud of our inclusiveness, we are so proud of welcoming new comers and proud of our society being safe in general."