Lt. Andrew Richard Nuttall was killed in action in Afghanistan on Dec. 23. (DND)

Hundreds of people gathered in Victoria, B.C., on Monday for a military procession and funeral for Andrew Nuttall, the 134th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan.

The B.C.-born Nuttall was killed Dec. 23 by an improvised explosive device when he was on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district southwest of Kandahar City.

On Monday, people lined the streets as the procession for Nuttall, 30, made its way through downtown Victoria, marking the beginning of the service.

Among them was Judith Fraser, who used the opportunity to pay tribute to the soldier band to question Canada's role in Afghanistan.

"I feel heartsick about this healthy, active young man," she said.

"[He was] somebody's son and someone's brother and nephew – and he's gone. It's a tremendous cost to that family. I really have difficulty accepting that that cost is paid by us, by our families, our country. For what?"

Nuttall, of the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, will be buried in a Victoria-area cemetery.

He moved to Vancouver Island in 1997, studied engineering at the University of Victoria and was living with his parents in Victoria when he joined the Armed Forces in 2007. He was on his first overseas tour when he was killed.

Nuttall was one of several Canadians killed in Afghanistan over the holiday season. Four soldiers and a journalist died Dec. 27.

With files from The Canadian Press