“Today, we gather, virtually, from all over the city, and likely in other parts of this country and other parts of the world, to remember and honour the lives of Renuka Amarasinghe, Andrea Bradden, Geraldine Brady, Anne Marie D’Amico, So He Chung, Betty Forsyth, Chul Min “Eddie” Kang, Ji Hun Kim, Munir Najjar and Dorothy Sewell,” Mayor Tory said at the beginning of a virtual ceremony for the 2018 Yonge Street van attack.

A global pandemic and a city in a state of emergency didn’t stop Toronto from honouring the victims of the Yonge Street tragedy that took place two years ago on this day of April 23. 

Toronto Mayor John Tory gave a touching address at a ceremony marking the events including a moment of silence to honour the aforementioned victims. 

“[The pandemic] will not stop us from remembering all of the lives that were lost on April 23, 2018,” Tory said. “Two years ago today, people walking north on Yonge Street on a sunny afternoon were brutally attacked resulting in loss of life and injury for 26 people in our community.”

The tragic events of that day happened, when a man, the alleged Alek Minassian, rammed a rented van into a group of pedestrians in the area of Yonge and Finch Avenue. The attack resulted in 10 people being killed and another 16 injured. Tory acknowledged that, in a way, it was a loss of innocence for the city and one day that he will never forget. 

“I will never forget the sorrow that I saw in Mel Lastman Square and along Yonge Street that day and the days that followed,” he said. “But I also won’t forget in the days that followed the hundreds of thousands of Torontonians who went to Yonge Street to mourn and to comfort and to respond as one to this act of despicable violence with love and with support that came to really characterize the entirety of the response to this.”

In addition to the virtual ceremony, there will also be a community-led virtual vigil by community groups We Love Willowdale and Willowdale Interfaith Coalition that can be accessed via the I Love Willowdale Facebook page. 

“As on every April 23, the Willowdale community will pause to remember the victims of this tragedy,” said Willowdale councillor John Filion. “While this event is a reminder of a senseless act that caused so much pain for so many, it also reminds us that our community is strong and can stand as a symbol of hope as we unite through our healing and continue to offer support for one another.”