Family and friends of the victims of Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day tragedy say they feel blindsided by city plans to remove a number of memorials around the site of the deadly car ramming.
“It feels too soon, it feels rushed, it doesn’t feel like it is honouring the people who lost their lives, it doesn’t feel like it is giving us a quiet space to grieve,” said Libby Rowe.
Rowe’s friend Jennifer Darbellay was one of the 11 people killed and dozens of others injured when a car drove through the Filipino street festival on April 26.
In the wake of the tragedy, Rowe helped craft a memorial to her friend on 43rd Avenue, a colourful display of painted rocks, potted flowers, hearts and crafts.
“This space is the last space that Jen was alive … It was right at that tree there that she had her last breath, so as a community we felt it was important to come back to this space to collect, to be together, to grieve, to heal,” she said.
“A number of other families from the school were also injured in the incident and have been really struggling to cope with moving forward, and having this space, having some dirt, some flowers, a place to be, has just been really important in this journey.”
The City of Vancouver says work around the memorials will begin Thursday.
In a statement, deputy city manager Sandra Singh said the city will begin a “careful, phased consolidation” of the temporary memorials in the Fraser Street area “to support respectful spaces for remembrance, the local neighbourhood’s path to healing, and safe and accessible streets and sidewalks.”
The work will begin at 41st Avenue and “proceed to nearby areas after further discussion with the victims’ families as feasible,” Singh added.
Jose Abner Diocon, who built a memorial site centred around a large cross, told Global News he had intended to leave the items in place for 45 days to honour the 11 victims.
“I spoke to the 311, the city, and they told me I could stay here until 45 days, they told me that,” he said.
“If the city wants it, I believe I have no choice. Then I have to remove all the things here, the crosses, the flowers, the mama Mary, the Divine Mercy picture.”
Community organization Filipino BC told Global News the move to make any major changes to the memorials is premature.
“We know there are people who regularly visit the site, including friends and immediate family members of people who have lost loved ones, and it’s important they are able to gather there,” spokesperson Crystal Laderas said.
“It’s only been about three weeks since the tragedy, and the grief is still very, very intense right now. So the site is an important way for people to mourn and to honour their loved ones.”
Laderas said the organization has expressed its concerns to the city, and that any future changes at the site should be made in consultation with victims’ families.
The City of Vancouver says, along with the consolidated memorials, it is planning to create a new temporary site for remembrance at the nearby Mountain View Cemetery.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in the tragedy and remains in custody.