As thousands of Americans rallied in Washington, D.C. and other cities, Montrealers held their own marches to show solidarity on gun control.

One march, organized by the Quebec Student Union, started at Cabot Square at 10:00 a.m. and headed down Ste-Catherine to the American consulate. Among those present was Cyril Yared, an engineering student at McGill University who grew up in Parkland, FL. 

The March for Our Lives in Washington was organized by survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, FL in which 17 people were killed. Several students at the school have since become active proponents of gun control in the U.S.

"After the shooting occurred, the next day, the students started standing up and talking and shouting out for those who can't talk because they were affected by gun violence," said Yared. "That's what inspired me to support the efforts of the students and help wherever I can."

Yared said he chose to study in Canada partially because he believed it to be a safer country and hopes American leaders look at the marches across the world and act to change gun laws. 

 

A second march began at the same time at the Westmount United Church and ended at Dawson College. In 2006, a gunman killed one student at the college and injured 19 others before taking his own life.

 

Dawson Student Union chairperson Anthony Williams called the march "a beautiful thing."

"There's power in numbers and we as a community can show we can make a change," he said. "Hopefully, that change will happen really soon."

Montreal has been home to two other school shootings. On Dec. 6, 1989, a 25-year-old man shot 28 people at Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14 women, before committing suicide.

Heidy Rathjen, a survivor of Polytechnique and gun control advocate, was in attendance at Saturday's march. She said Canada is not immune to gun violence. She criticized the recently tabled Bill C-71, which would alter Canada's gun laws, as not going far enough.

"While we applaud what these students are doing and totally support them because the epidemic of gun violence in the United States is a total abomination, we also have to hold our own politicians to account and ask them to stand up to the Canadian gun lobby and ban assault weapons in Canada as well," she said. 

In Canada, weapons like the controversial AR-15 are legal, though they are not permitted to be used even for hunting and their magazine capacity is legally capped at five rounds. In the United States, there is no federal ammo capacity law.

In 1992, a Concordia associate professor shot and killed four colleagues and wounded a staff member. He was sentenced to life in prison.

More than a dozen other rallies were held in Canada, including Toronto, where marchers carried signs protesting gun violence in the United States and recent shootings that have plagued the city, pointing out that Canada is not immune to tragedy.

- With files from The Canadian Press