TORONTO — Bell tolls, moments of silence and brief pauses in transit services were observed Monday afternoon across Ontario in memory of Queen Elizabeth II as her official state funeral concluded.
Canada and Ontario declared Monday a Day of Mourning to coincide with the funeral, and Premier Doug Ford encouraged people to observe a moment of silence at 1 p.m. “to reflect on the remarkable life and legacy of service” of the queen.
“Please join me in paying tribute to the countless contributions of our former Monarch,” he wrote on Twitter.
In busy downtown Toronto, bells at Old City Hall began tolling at 1 p.m., with 96 tolls in total for each of the Commonwealth longest-serving monarch’s years of life.
People paused briefly by the building to observe and record the bells.
About 50 people gathered nearby to observe a moment of silence at City Hall’s Peace Garden, which was dedicated to the late monarch during a 1984 visit.
Toronto Mayor John Tory joined the small crowd of city councillors and members of the public.
He put flowers on a stone sign that marked the queen’s visit to the city.
The CN Tower was also set to dim at the top of each hour Monday night in memory of the queen.
Toronto’s transit system was paused for 96 seconds after 1 p.m., a move replicated in the nearby cities of Mississauga and Oakville.
Other cities held public viewings of the state funeral that began early in the morning for Canadian viewers, and some Ontarians headed to local pubs to watch the proceedings.
In Ottawa, a national memorial service for the late monarch got underway in the early afternoon.
Small crowds gathered to watch the military parade that marched small crowds past National War Memorial and Parliament Hill to a cathedral for a service.
A 96-gun salute was completed a few blocks from the church.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2022.
