Updated: Fri Aug. 18 2006 9:59:01 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

Up to 8,000 people took part in a candlelight vigil in the heart of downtown Toronto Thursday night to remember and honour the millions around the world who have died from AIDS.

In a moving ceremony, delegates from the International Aids Conference and members of the public descended on Dundas Square for a memorial service and a moment of silence.

"It was important for me to be at this vigil," Denise Becker, who is HIV-positive, told CTV Toronto.

Becker's daughter Katie died from AIDS when she was just 9 months old.

"I wasn't tested during pregnancy and gave birth to this child, and then she died just three months after we found out that she had AIDS. So it was a really devastating time for us," she said.

Tom Grimmon, who has been living with AIDS for 13 years, said he suffers constantly from a lack of energy. Still, he said, "I live my life the best I can."

Before the moment of silence, federal Health Minister Tony Clement and other dignitaries lit candles in honour of the various groups of people that have been affected by AIDS.

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, Toronto Mayor David Miller and Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton were also on hand to light candles.

AIDS counsellor Jocelyn Watchorn, an organizer for the event, said the vigil was a chance to tackle the prejudice that many people with the disease face.

"We hope to bring HIV out of the shadow of discrimination and stigma by having it in such an open space," Watchorn told The Canadian Press.

He said in Africa, AIDS victims and their families still don't talk about it because of the social stigma many associate with the disease.

But in Dundas Square, gatherers were invited to shout out the names of loved ones who have died of AIDS.

Others, meanwhile, criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to forgo the vigil as well as the entire AIDS conference in favour of a planned trip to the Arctic. Some even heckled Clement when he took the stage, yelling "Shame on you," and "Where's Harper?"

But the night was mostly a quiet affair, highlighted with performances in honour of the dead.

Saxophone player John Johnson played a piece called "For those who did not return."

Singer Billy Newton-Davis, who is HIV-positive, said he wanted to honour the lives of those who have died of AIDS with his performance.

He sang: "I've got a dream where we all live forever, where AIDS can't kill us and all those we've lost will rise again.'

About 32,000 Canadians are among the estimated 38.6 million people living with the disease worldwide.

Since first being recognized on June 5, 1981, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people.

With reports from CTV Toronto's Desmond Brown and The Canadian press