A rally and march in Saskatoon Thursday evening stretched for almost six blocks through the downtown before reaching the park on the north side of the Bessborough. The Saskatoon Police Service says the crowd was in the thousands.

Which is where the massive crowd fell silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The rally was in memory of George Floyd and that is how long the Minnesota man was pinned by the neck by a police officer before he died.

Sarah Szell said the more she saw online of violent racist incidents, the more important she felt it was to attend.

Szell, who is Metis, says she is going to be an educator and her major is Indigenous Studies with plans to teach in the north.

“I’m not going to be treated any differently for the colour of my skin whether I have family that are Indigenous or not and so, yeah, I gotta stick up for my family and my heritage and for the kids I’m going to be teaching soon.”

Shane Cabilao is also in university with plans to major in social work. He says it isn’t fair for immigrants to be belittled by other people because they work a minimum wage job. His family moved to Canada from the Philippines when he was 10 and he says he has faced racism from all sides including classmates and while playing sports which involved name calling and racial slurs.

Cabilao says he is proud of who he is.

“And if they want to make fun of me, just ’cause of my race, that’s on them, not on me.”

There was a large police presence keeping the traffic directed and controlled so the march could make its way unimpeded through the downtown core and while many wore face masks, there was little social distancing.