By Gordon Lambie
About 100 people from the Eastern Townships community gathered at Sherbrooke’s Marché de la gare on Friday evening for a vigil organized in memory of the four members of the Afzaal family who were killed during an evening walk in London, Ontario in early June in what local police have said was a purposeful attack by a local man. The vigil was one of many that have taken place in communities across the country since the attack, which killed Talat Afzaal, her son Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha Salman, and their daughter Yumna Afzaal, and left their nine year old son Fayez orphaned.
The Sherbrooke event, which was organized by a collection of local community organizations, drew participants young and old, as well as community leaders and local politicians from all levels of government. Members of Parliament Marie-Claude Bibeau and Elizabeth Brière both addressed the crowd, as well as the Member of the National Assembly for the Saint-François riding, Geneviève Hébert, and Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier. All condemned the attack and acts of hatred and intolerance in general.
