'Arms are for hugging,' Montreal students say at march for tighter gun control measures

Young Montreal students marchedthrough the streets today as part of a larger movement calling for tighter gun control laws in the U.S. and Canada.

The Montrealdemonstrations coincided with a larger rally being held inWashington, D.C.

LexingtonVickery, a grade six student at Roslyn elementary school inWestmount, organized a march that weaved its way through Westmountthis morning.

"I feel like today I've made a really big difference," Lexingtontold CBC News as the march neared Dawson College, the site of a 2006 mass shooting.

The March For Our Lives, an event in Washington, D.C., was organized by students in the U.S., who were pushed to act after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others last month.

'Bigger than I expected'

In Montreal, Lexington marched alongside children and parents from the English Montreal School Board, which shared news of the event in its monthly newsletter.

"I like that almost everyone who came is helping a little bit more to support people who have been affected by the shooting," shesaid.

According to Lexington's mom, Amy Creighton, students from the West Island and the Southwest turned up to show their support, as well as numerous adults.

"It's bigger than I expected," Creighton said.

Many attendees bore signs that read slogans like "arms are for hugs" and "books not bullets," Lexingtonsaid.

Liberal MP Marc Miller was also on hand for the demonstration.

"This is great, having people exercise what is a fundamental right in democracy, which is to have your voice heard," he said, noting that the Liberals introduced legislation last week aimed at tightening gun control laws.

Some Quebec advocates, however, felt the bill didn't go far enough.

Meanwhile, Montrealers staged a larger march nearby at Cabot Square. It was organized in solidarity with American students affected by school shootings, according to organizer Phil Lord, alaw student at McGill.

The march endedat the American Consulate.

Polytechnique survivor among those marching in Washington

Tens of thousands of people marchedin the U.S. capital.

March For Our Lives: Young activists hope for change

7 years ago

Duration 1:04

Cyril Yared talks to CBC News about the student-led protests

Among them was Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the deadly 1989 cole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal.

She's attending to honour the students of Polytechnique.

"If in Quebec, in Canada, we're tired of assault weapons imagine how ordinary citizens in the U.S. must be tired of these attacks and must want to feel real legislative changes," Provost told Radio-Canada on Thursday.

Marches were alsoheld in cities elsewhere across the U.S. and Canada, from St. John's to Vancouver.