'We are so thankful for him': Archbishop Desmond Tutu's legacy reverberates in Toronto

When Desmond Tutu visited Toronto 35 years ago as the first Black Anglican bishop of Johannesburg, he appealed to Canadians to join the struggle against South Africa's apartheid regime.

In a historic speech to the Ontario legislature on May 30, 1986, Tutu called on the international community to intervene to end the system of oppression whereby the majority Black population was subjugated by a government controlled by the white minority.

It was the first time in 34 years that a foreign dignitary had been invited to address the legislature of Canada's biggest province.

"Please help us. Our country is burning. Our children are dying," said Tutu, who later became Archbishop of Cape Town.

"What you do where you are counts and makes a difference, if only to those who have their noses rubbed daily in the dust, to know that the world cares."

Tutu, 90, best known as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBTQ rights, died peacefully in Cape Town on Sunday, after a lifetime fighting for the freedom of Black South Africans and other oppressed people around the world.

Tutu's speech to Ontario MPPs was just one of many stops on his campaign to enlist Canadian "people of conscience" to the cause of racial equality, and to have governments introduce economic and political sanctions against South Africa. 

He was in Toronto for the Arts Against Apartheid Festival — an eight-day event meant to raise money and awareness about the situation in South Africa.

Lloyd McKell, an activist and educator who helped organize the festival, credited Tutu with publicizing the injustice that Black and non-white South Africans didn't enjoy the same rights as white people.

"It's a sad day with the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but it's a good day in the sense that we are reminded what his contribution has been to the people of South Africa and indeed to the world — awakening us to the horror of human oppression," said McKell. "We are truly thankful for him."

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The Toronto festival involved a variety of events and performances featuring local and international artists, including singers Harry Belafonte, Salome Bey and Liberty Silver.

Tutu was the guest of honour at a dinner at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and headlined a "Rally Against Apartheid" at Queen's Park that, according to a Maclean's magazine report, at least 7,000 people attended.

"We were very happy with the overall response of Canadians who stood up and said, 'This is wrong. This is immoral. This is inhuman,'" McKell said.