Local human rights groups and Iranian-Canadian organizations organized protests on Saturday in Toronto, Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal, and other communities across Canada. Thousands demonstrated for the Iranian people protesting for human rights. Nigar Mortazavi, host of The Iran Podcast, said on CTV News on Saturday: "This is a serious challenge to the Islamic Republic and certainly a legitimacy crisis they are dealing with. The government, or the regime, was prepared and capable of violently suppressing these kinds of protests, by having security forces shoot directly at protesters." The uproar began in late September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in custody of the so-called "Morality Police," a unit enforcing mandatory hijab on women and girls in Iran. She was then transferred to a "Re-education Center" for not wearing the hijab properly and later died; her family says she was beaten to death while officials claimed it was a heart attack. Since then, Amini's death has become a symbol of the persecution faced by Iranian women for decades. Also, in Iran, thousands marched in the streets, and many women and girls continue to remove their hijabs in support of Amini. The government, in turn, used violent tactics to silence protesters, with the Associated Press reporting that over 200 people were killed and thousands arrested. A woman who spoke to CTVNews.ca on Saturday said that looking outward from Canada to the ongoing "human rights violations" is terrifying, adding over the phone on Saturday: "I am not scared and worried about my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews who live there, but I am more worried about what is happening to all these little children and young people in the streets." In the same context, Iranian climber Naz Rokhabi competed last week in South Korea without her hijab, and BBC reported she was shortly lost, but she reappeared in Tehran, Iran's capital, which some called a forced apology for the "unintentional" act. Instead, protesters took Rokhabi as another symbol of the ongoing uprising. Additionally, the Canadian government responded to the protests in Iran by permanently banning senior regime members from entering the country, restricting financial transactions with Iran, and imposing sanctions.