A Powerful Show of Solidarity

This month, I joined nearly 150,000 people in Toronto to protest the regime currently in power in Iran. When I arrived at North York Centre station, the subway was packed, so full that people had to wait for the next train. It was moving to see so many community members passionate about standing in solidarity regardless of the cold temperatures.  

Despite the size of the crowd, the afternoon unfolded calmly and with dignity. I’m grateful to Toronto Police for their presence and for supporting the solemn walk from Yonge–Dundas Square to Queen’s Park. I was honoured to share the stage with MP Ali Ehsassi and MPP Michael Parsa, and to stand alongside so many voices calling for justice, joining the chants of “Regime Change Now!” Click Here to hear my speech from that day. 

Many attendees held photographs of young people whose lives were brutally taken by the regime. These faces, full of promise that has been stolen, really hit me. For so many Iranian families, grief is not distant or abstract. We hold those families in our hearts and continue to hope and pray for a free Iran.