Friday evening's Nova Scotia Remembers virtual vigil in memory of the victims of the mass shooting is shaping up to be a massive online event, with music performances, celebrities and politicians taking part.
The vigil will be hosted through Colchester Supporting Our Communities Facebook group, and through YouTube. The website novascotiaremembers.ca also provides a list of media coverage of the event, as well as verified charities supporting the families.
It begins at 7 p.m. and is expected to run for about three hours.
It has garnered mentions from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and countless social media references across the country.
Cees van den Hoek is one of the administrators of the Facebook group hosting the event. He's a longtime resident of the Portapique area and, like most Nova Scotians, was deeply affected by the tragedy.
“It's going to be a combination of music and dedications or tributes (and) there's going to be some politicians, some (celebrities),” he said, adding that some of the names are not yet being published. “Jonathan Torrens is going to be part of it, I'm allowed to say him.”
“There's a lot of hurting people … not just Nova Scotia, through the country, and we're all stuck at home, sitting at home. It gives everybody an outlet to grieve, to share.”
The killings, which started in Portapique Saturday evening and continued Sunday morning through Wentworth and other communities before ending when the gunman was killed by RCMP in Enfield, left 22 people dead, including a 17-year-old girl and a baby still it its mother's womb.
They are RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, Greg and Jaime Blair, Lisa McCully, Heather O’Brien, Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod, Jolene Oliver, Emily Tuck and Aaron (Friar) Tuck, Frank Gulenchyn and Dawn Madsen, Gina Goulet, Lillian Hyslop, Tom Bagley, Kristen Beaton, John Zahl and Elizabeth Joanne Thomas, Corrie Ellison, Joey Webber, and Joy and Peter Bond.
Van den Hoek has moved from the community within the past year, but said he has a house and a former church he had planned to turn into an antique store in Portapique. His children still attended after-school programming and friends' birthday parties before the pandemic forced people into isolation.
He said the online comments from all over Canada brings a measure of comfort.
“There's a lot of hurting people … not just Nova Scotia, through the country, and we're all stuck at home, sitting at home,” he said. “It gives everybody an outlet to grieve, to share.”
He has started a memorial in front of the church and is asking people to mail him any contributions they wish to include at 6896 Highway #2, Portapique, N.S., B0M 1B0, or to drop them off. To minimize the impact and potential exposure of mail carriers to the novel coronavirus, he is also asking others to step up to provide a collection box at the end of their driveways for contributions from their respective areas.
“We're trying to get as little handling as possible, so instead of 1,000 letters coming through Canada Post, it'll be 300 letters and then a bunch of boxes, because … with the whole COVID-19, we don't want to make more chances of spreading anything, so all those things have to be kind of minimized.”
OTHER TRIBUTES
Other tribute and memorials are also being organized. The obituary for Lisa McCully said her funeral, through Mattatall-Varner Funeral Home, will be webcast at 2:55 on Sunday.
St. Benedict Parish in Halifax will live-stream its memorial mass at noon on Friday on its website saintbenedict.ca and Facebook. The Ummah Masjid Mosque in Halifax is also planning an online service.
It's also been suggested that churches across Canada ring their bells at 6 p.m. ADT. Van den Hoek is planning to do so at the former church he owns.
There is also a growing effort that has captured attention across the country to have bagpipers go outside their homes at 8 a.m. to play Amazing Grace.
Tributes to the fallen and calls to join the vigil are being mentioned in social media posts from the Winnipeg Police Association, as well as the police in Peterborough, Ont. The City of Owen Sound has tweeted its support, as has Scouts Canada and even superstar wrestler Mick Foley.
Another vigil, the Nova Scotia Vigil From Home, asks people to stand in their driveway, balcony or window for two minutes of silence, starting at 7 p.m.
On Friday at 2 p.m., the Nova Scotia RCMP will hold a moment of silence for Const. Heidi Stevenson and is asking people to wear red in her honour.
"The RCMP is a family and we have lost one of our own," the force said in a news release Thursday afternoon.
"Every RCMP employee in Nova Scotia and across the country feels the loss. We are grieving with Cst. Stevenson’s family and will continue to support them in the days, weeks and months ahead. A small, private funeral is being planned by Cst. Stevenson’s family and a more formal celebration of life with a full regimental component will happen when it is safe to do so. Our employees and communities across the province are finding their own ways to honour her memory. ...
"On Friday, April 24 at 2 p.m., RCMP members and employees will honour Cst. Stevenson. Where safe to do so and when operations permit, members and employees are encouraged to observe a moment of silence. Members of the public can also show support and honour Cst. Stevenson by wearing red tomorrow."
From Peterborough police:
This morning we joined @OPP_CR #PtboOPP @PtboParamedics @PtboFireRescue in honouring fallen @RCMPNS Cst. Heidi Stevenson & the other victims of the devastating Nova Scotia tragedy. The footage will be a part of a national online vigil taking place April 24. #NovaScotiaStrong -LG pic.twitter.com/5gmrUvZZCk
— Peterborough Police (@PtboPolice) April 22, 2020
City of Owen Sound
The flag at City Hall will be at half-mast in memory of those who lost their lives yesterday in Nova Scotia.
— City of Owen Sound (@CityOwenSound) April 20, 2020
A vigil will be held virtually to celebrate the lives of the victims at 7pm on Friday through the Facebook group Colchester Supporting our Nova Scotian Communities. pic.twitter.com/MW6nGz58es
Scouts Canada
#ScoutsStandTogether. During this time of unimaginable loss, Canada joins Nova Scotia in shared grief. Join the upcoming virtual vigil to remember those who have been taken by this tragedy. The community will host this tribute on April 24, 7-10pmAST.https://t.co/FxA5PA3QeF
— Scouts Canada (@scoutscanada) April 21, 2020
Tributes
Winnipeg Police Association
A moving video of WPA members tribute to our brothers and sisters @rcmpmb @RCMPNS and all of the victims and their families in Nova Scotia pic.twitter.com/p3eFbPpv1d
— WpgPoliceAssociation (@WpgWpa) April 22, 2020
Lindsay Graves
I made the call on #tiktok for people to play “Amazing Grace” in support of Nova Scotia. This firefighter and bagpipe player from the U.S. answered the call.
— Lindsay Graves (@LindsayGraves26) April 20, 2020
I’m so moved by the kindness and compassion ❤️ #NovaScotiaStrong https://t.co/DT22xpNh51
Mick Foley
My heart breaks for you Nova Scotia. I have had such a fondness for this beautiful place since camping there as a child.
— Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) April 20, 2020
I will see you again in September. Until then, I am sending a prayer for strength and healing.#NovaScotiaStrong #NovaScotia pic.twitter.com/DAnoh5JyYC