Egyptian-Canadians and their supporters plan to take to Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday to show support for protesters who have been on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities since Tuesday.
The Toronto gathering follows demonstrations in both Ottawa and Montreal Friday and corresponds with growing strife in Egypt, where an estimated 1000-plus people were injured in the unrest.
Toronto organizer Ahmed Khalifa said there's been a lot of interest in the event, which began small but has grown quickly.
"It started as just me and a friend, and next thing you know we have 1,000 people coming," he told CTV News on Friday, saying the rally is set to begin at 1 p.m. and a parallel event will be held in Montreal.
Demonstrations in Egypt escalated significantly on Friday, along with unconfirmed reports Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei had been placed under house arrest. The White House said Friday that ElBaradei should be released.
Protesters' demands include term limits for the presidency, the dismissal of Interior Minister Habib El-Adly, an end to police brutality and the abolition of the state of emergency designation in place since 1981.
Egypt has also been gripped with massive unemployment, rising food prices and unflinching poverty for years.
"We call on the government of Egypt to respond to the legitimate aspirations of all the Egyptian people by taking all necessary practical steps for democratic reform," states an open letter released this week by the National Association for Change in Egypt/Tagheer-Canada.
"Egyptian Canadians stand up in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Egypt… and will react to each step taken in Egypt by the people and the government until all demands are implemented."
The group is encouraging Egyptians abroad to add their names to the statement, posted online at Taghyeer.net.
Khalifa said many from his community have been glued to their phones to keep up with the latest developments, much like those in Egypt have been using mobile technology to spread details of the protest movement.
"We are all hooked into our BlackBerrys and we are hoping for the best," he said. "As Egyptians living in Canada and as Canadians citizens who support the freedom of people around the world, we are hoping we have a big rally tomorrow."
However, Egyptian authorities blocked access to the web on Friday, and many blogs and newspapers in the country appeared to be on lockdown as no updates had been posted in days.
Inspired by the success of protests in Tunisia that led to the ouster of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14, Khalifa said he's hopeful for change.
"Tunisia floated hope for the whole world and hope is contagious," he said.
