Winnipeg Syrians celebrate end of Assad regime with 'freedom' march

Hundreds of people marched from the Manitoba Legislative Building to celebrate the end of the Assad regime in Syria on Dec. 15, 2024. (Dan Timmerman/CTV News Winnipeg)

One week after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Winnipeggers came together to celebrate a new beginning for the country.

Hundreds of people marched from the Manitoba Legislative Building to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights Sunday, bearing Syrian flags and singing songs. With each step, smiles stretched across people’s faces and a hopeful glimmer shone brighter in their eyes.

“It’s a march for freedom,” said Carlos, who was born in Syria. “We would like to say that we are free.”

But Carlos said that freedom came with a cost – a destructive civil war that forced people to flee and had many feeling unsafe and unsure about their future.

“We’re happy today. It’s a historical moment for everyone,” he said. “The end of more than half a century of the fascist rule.”

Carlos said he was arrested in Syria and Lebanon where he grew up but managed to come to Canada instead of being sent to prison near Damascus.

“I was one of the lucky people,” he said.

While most of his loved ones have left Syria, Carlos said he looks forward to returning to his home country without risking his life.

“Now people feel like they got back their own country,” he said. “And people now can feel really safe if they want to go back.

“If they want to say, ‘I belong to that place,’ they can see it and they can be very proud about it.”