Members of the Libyan-Canadian community took to the streets in downtown Ottawa again today to pressure the Libyan ambassador to denounce the Moammar Gadhafi regime.
About one hundred demonstrators paraded in front of the Libyan Embassy on Metcalfe Street shouting for the end of Gadhafi's grip on the North African nation.
Gadhafi said that he would die before he stepped down in a rambling, sometimes incoherent, address on Libyan state television Tuesday.
Protests against Gadhafi broke out in Libya last week. They are part of a wider anti-government movement that has swept across the Middle East and North Africa over the past month.
Libyan demonstrators have been met with a violent response from government security forces. There have been reports that tear gas and aerial bombardments have targeted protest sites, and that armed mercenaries are roaming the streets.
Human rights groups estimate that more than 250 protestors have been killed.
The situation is difficult to watch for many who have loved ones and friends in the country, including Shawn Harper who used to work there but resigned last month.
His coworkers have told him that Libya "has gone to hell in a hand basket."
For those with family there, it's an especially emotional situation.
"My husband's family is there," said Saphiah Aghliw through tears. "We haven't heard anything from there but people are dying by the hundreds."
The Canadian government has condemned Gadhafi and will arrange for evacuation flights for Canadian citizens in Libya to begin on Thursday.
Anyone looking for information on loved ones in Libya can call the Foreign Affairs' Emergency Operation Centre in Ottawa at 1-800-387-3124. The centre has already received about 150 calls, Cannon said.
Canadians in Libya can call the Canadian Embassy in Tripoli at 218-21-335-1633.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Joanne Schnurr
