by Kait Morris
Canadians are reacting to events in Ukraine with protests and rallies all over Canada.
More than 50 people gathered at Nathan Philips Square in downtown Toronto to protest the unrest in Ukraine yesterday at 3 p.m..
At the rally, Bob Dechert, Conservative MP of Mississauga-Erindale, said thanks to MP James Bezan of Selkirk-Interlake and Ted Opitz of the Etobicocke centre, there would be an emergency debate today in parliament about the situation in Ukraine.
Dechert said that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was in discussions with Canada’s allies over how to react to the situation.
“Minister Baird said all options are all on the table,” said Dechert.
Opitz said Andrew Bennet, the Canadian Ambassador for Religious Freedoms, would be going to investigate the issues surrounding threats to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture.
HumberNews was on the scene and captured video of Dechert addressing the crowd and the protesters joining together in song.
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Peggy Nash, the NDP MP of Parkdale-High Park, was also at the rally and added her voice to the protest calling for financial and travel sanctions against the oligarchs and their families.
Participants were enthusiastic and responded to the speakers, chanting for sanctions and singing in the crowd.
HumberNews captured footage of Nash lending her voice to the crowd and calling for sanctions, as well as a protesters speaking about the situation.
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Marta Chyczij, a Ukrainian-Canadian protester at the rally, spoke with HumberNews.
“I was hoping to see more,” she said about the crowd at Nathan Philips Square. She says that the Canadian government needs to impose sanctions and, most of all, impose pressure “to support humanitarian and democratic rights.”