NEWS: Canada: Saturday declared national day of mourning for tsunami victims, page 1

Saturday has been declared a national day of mourning for those who perished in the tsunamis, with ceremonies being held locally and across the nation, as well as an hour-long interfaith ceremony to be held in Ottawa, with among others, PM Paul Martin, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, and various religious groups including Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Sikh and Baha'i. Next week Prime Minister Martin will be visiting the tsunami-stricken zones in Thailand and Sri Lanka.

www.cbc.ca
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin has declared Saturday a national day of mourning for tsunami victims in South Asia and Africa.

Martin will be participating in an interfaith ceremony in Ottawa starting at noon EST, along with Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and Minister of Heritage Liza Frulla.

"I believe this interfaith event will highlight the common spirit among people," Abdul Rashid of the Ottawa Muslim community told CBC News Online. Rashid will be speaking at the ceremony.

"It's the living we have to pray for. They need to be strong enough emotionally and physically to stand up to their losses," says Rashid, who adds that he will say a few words of sympathy for the victims while underlining that "all we have is the human spirit to sustain us."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I am already so broken by this tragedy, but will try to attend a ceremony in downtown Toronto - or at least watch it on tv. But I don't think there will be closure for a long time to come, the scale of the disaster being so huge.

Related News Links:
www.cbc.ca

[edit on 8-1-2005 by Banshee]