Dressed in white with ribbons affixed to their lapels, family and friends of a pregnant Toronto woman killed last week while cycling gathered to honour and remember her Monday night.
Hundreds attended the ceremony for Jenna Morrison, which was held at the Bloor Street United Church at 7 p.m.
Morrison, 38, died after being hit by a truck while cycling along Dundas Street West near Sterling Road last Monday. She was the mother of five-year-old Lucas and was pregnant with her second child.
At the public ceremony, her widower spoke about the woman he loved who helped him through a battle with cancer.
"It is hard to accept that Jenna's physical presence has vanished from this world," Florian Schuck said. "But her spirit, her light, her love and her energy will be always in my heart."
Spurred by the tragedy, NDP MP Olivia Chow called for a change on city streets that would help protect cyclists and pedestrians.
Chow, the opposition NDP's transportation critic, plans on introducing a private member's bill that would ensure trucks are equipped with side guards designed to prevent "vulnerable road-users from being trapped" beneath the truck.
"There's no reason we're not doing it here in Canada, it will save lives," she told CTV Toronto.
Chow, who has been calling for the mandatory installation of side guards since 2006, said that the device will be good for the trucking industry and it will make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
"All it requires is a change in regulation to say to the trucking industry that, look, install these guards," she said, adding that a British study found a 61 per cent decrease in cycling deaths 10 years after side guards were installed on trucks.
The European Union has required side guards on trucks for more than two decades. The guards are not mandatory in Canada.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance said in a statement released on Monday that "it is far from clear" mandatory side guards would save lives.
"This is a complex issue," said David Bradley, the trucking alliance's president. "While we fully understand the emotions that would be cause for some people to support mandatory side guards, we feel the solution lies elsewhere – in increasing awareness and education and planning for bike lanes."
Earlier on Monday, hundreds of cyclists in bright bike helmets and carrying heart-shaped signs, rode en mass through the west-end streets in honour of Morrison.
The memorial ride began at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue and cut through city streets, reaching the site of Morrison's death at the corner of Dundas Street West and Sterling Avenue a half-hour later.
"This is another memorial we wish we weren't doing," said Chloe, an organizer with Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists. "We are paying our respects to a fallen cyclist who was a part of our community."
As part of the ride, a bike painted entirely white, known as a Ghost Bike, was posted near the intersection where Morrison died.
Toronto Police said on Monday that the truck driver will not face charges in the incident.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Michelle Dube
