09/22/2025
๐ ๐
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก, ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐
๐ซ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ: ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌโ ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ฅ ๐
๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐๐ โ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ 21, 2025
On a warm Sunday evening, the historic Oaks Garden Theatre at Niagara Falls became the setting for a small but spirited vigil in support of conservative commentator ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ค. From 5:30 until 7:00 p.m., ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐โ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐, ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ assembled for an event designed to ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐-๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐.
๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ travelled from Oshawa to attend and document the gathering, and actively participated by **๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐** to attendees at the start of the event.
๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐-๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐๐ซ๐ฌ
The program reflected the breadth of the audience:
โ A local reverend opened the vigil with a call to prayer and reflection.
โ A practicing pathologist spoke about the intersection of science, ethics, and faith.
โ A churchgoing father of 13 children spoke about how blessed he felt to have such a large, loving family and a marriage of 28 years. His **๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป**, now living without their husband and father.
โ Adding political weight to the evening, a sitting Member of Parliament addressed attendees, urging them to remain engaged in civic life and to โ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒโ.
๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ
While the atmosphere was peaceful and respectful, there was a small but visible police presence. Two officers walked regular laps around the garden throughout the event, keeping a ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
Attendeesโincluding families with childrenโsat attentively during the program. From the middle of the crowd, it was difficult to see the children behind, but the ones nearby were sitting and listening. At one point, a little girl tried to dash toward a dog, but her mother gently stopped her. You **๐๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ****, though it was unclear if anyone else noticed.
๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐
At 7:00 p.m., the gathering shifted from speeches to symbolism. When attendees reached the middle of the Rainbow Bridge, everyone came together to sing the Canadian national anthem, followed by the U.S. anthem, creating a moment of ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐-๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
At that same spot, Canadian and U.S. supporters ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ โ a moment participants called โ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟโ.
๐ฌ โ๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐คโ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ค
Many attendees described the vigil as โ๐จ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ and โ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ. For some, it was their first time at a political or religious gathering of this nature.
โItโs encouraging to see families here together. Even though weโre few, it shows that people still care deeply about these values,โ one mother commented.
Others said the cross-border prayer was the highlight, turning an evening of speeches into a ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.