Permanent memorial for victims of the Toronto van attack to be installed
Posted Jun 3, 2018 4:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Thousands of cards, photos and flowers have been dismantled by city staff at an event in Toronto, to be replaced with a permanent memorial for the victims of the deadly van attack.
Mayor John Tory was in attendance as the impromptu memorials left in the days after the April 23 attack were taken down.
He said the items will be placed in storage until the city comes up with an appropriate way to display them.
“They should form part of the historical record of Toronto because this was such a tragic event, and the reaction to it was an important part of the history of Toronto,” said Tory.
The event is taking place at Olive Square and Mel Lastman Square, the approximate sites where the attack in the city’s North York neighbourhood began and ended.
City staff are installing temporary plaques, and Tory said the city will then decide how to proceed with a permanent memorial.
He said it’s important to establish a permanent memorial at the site of the attack, as the many mementoes left by mourners wouldn’t last forever.
“I think a lot of Torontonians would want to honour the memories of those who died, because it was a horrific and very unusual thing to have happen in a city as peaceful as Toronto,” said Tory.
He added it is important to consult with the families of the victims and with people who live in the neighbourhood to create a memorial they believe is appropriate.
“Its part of the healing this city has to go through,” said Tory.
Ten people were killed and another 16 were injured when a van jumped the curb and ran over multiple people on the sidewalk.
A 25-year-old man from Richmond Hill, Ont., faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in the incident. His case has been put over until September.
