TORONTO - Hundreds of Canadians held a noisy but peaceful rally at the Ontario legislature today, calling for the resignation of Egypt's embattled president and free elections in the North African country.
Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton told the crowd, which organizers estimated at 1,000 or more, the Harper government must pressure Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down.
He says Prime Minister Stephen Harper should "stop supporting Mubarak and start supporting the people."
Layton says Canadians believe in the right of Egyptians to have a free and democratic state and Canada could send observers to monitor free elections in that country.
The protesters chanted and held signs with slogans such as "leave" and "Defend Egypt's Democracy Movement, Mubarak Out Now."
The rally was one of several taking place across Canada in support of Egyptian protesters who are now in their 12th day of demonstrations against Mubarak's 30-year-old regime.
Speaker after speaker denounced Mubarak, accusing him of living a rich life while many Egyptians live on only a few dollars a day.
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis said the Egyptian president should have left "long ago."
"Dictators and dictatorships have very little left time in this world," he said.
One speaker told the crowd Mubarak is 20 years past his retirement date.
The crowd then marched through city streets as police in cruisers and on bicycles stopped traffic.
The Canadian Peace Alliance says family-friendly rallies were also being held in Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor, Ont., Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Egyptian-Canadian Lemme Ibrahim, who was one of the organizers of the Toronto protest, said the rally was to show Egyptians they are not alone in their struggle for freedom.
Ibrahim said she hopes the protest and others across the country will encourage the federal government to call for Mubarak's immediate resignation.
Ibrahim, who has family members in Cairo and Alexandria, said she has a huge sense of pride, dignity and respect for the Egyptian people for standing up for their freedom.
