CORNWALL, Ontario – The Cornwall Public Library held a memorial vigil on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018 to mark the 29th year since the massacre at École Polytechnique.
On Dec. 6, 1989, a 25-year-old man shot and killed 14 women at École Polytechnique and wounded 14 others before turning the gun on himself. The attacker blamed women and feminists for ruining his life.
The victims of the attack were Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.
Two years after the attack, the government of Canada declared Dec. 6 to be the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
This year’s event remembering the tragedy was organized by Maison Baldwin House and Sexual Assault Support Services for Women of Cornwall, the United Counties of SD&G and Akwesasne (SASS).
The evening began with a screening of Polytechnique a film produced in memory of the massacre followed by a guided discussion about violence against women in modern society.
“We need to make sure that we remember that this happened, and why it happened and work to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Danielle MacNeil of Maison Baldwin House. “You’d think in 30 years we would have come a long way, but we haven’t.”
MacNeil explained that the group that gathered for the evening discussed parallels between the École Polytechnique and the van attacker who in April of this year intentionally struck innocent people with a van along Yonge St. in the Finch area of Toronto. He killed 10 people and injured 15 others. The van attacker identified with the so-called “Incel” or “Involuntary Celibate” movement, a primarily male dominated movement in which individuals blame people other than themselves, mostly women, for their own social failings.
After the discussion, a candlelight vigil was held outside of the Library at 8:30 p.m. where 14 candles were lit in memory of the 14 women who died at École Polytechnique and a moment of silence was held.
The vigil was organized by Amanda Marini-Rohde Public Educator/Volunteer Coordinator at SASS. Statements were read in French and English as to why everyone had been asked to gather that evening. Poetry was also read as were excerpts of the book Milk and Honey.
MacNeil said she hoped to make this an annual memorial event to highlight the continued problem of violence against women in modern society.
From Nov. 25 to Dec. 10, SASS has visited nine different schools to promote the White Ribbon campaign. The White Ribbon campaign is a male driven effort to fight violence against women that began after the École Polytechnique massacre.
The pledge to fight violence against women can be found at www.whiteribbon.ca
