21 years ago, on December 6th, 1989, 14 young women were killed at École Polytechnique in Montreal. An enraged gunman walked through the hallways of École Polytechnique yelling "I want the women". The gunman entered an engineering class and before opening fire, he separated the women from the men, he called the women in the class "une gang de féministes." Stating "j'haïs les Féministes [I hate feminists]", the gunman then shot the women and himself.
In response to the Montreal Massacre, December 6th has been proclaimed National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Commemorative events occur annually across Canada to remember those women who were killed and to continue to raise awareness about ending violence against women.
In 1991, following the Montreal Massacre, a group of men in Canada decided that they held a responsibility to speak out about violence against women. As a result, the White Ribbon Campaign was born. For more information about the White Ribbon Campaign, check out our blog post from last week.
December 6th Vigils:
Outdoor Vigil-6:00pm-Women's Monument at Minto Park, Elgin and Gilmore.
Indoor Vigil-7:30pm-All Saints Westboro and First United Church, 347 Richmond Road (just west of Churchill).
For more information visit:
OCTEVAW- http://www.octevaw-cocvff.ca/
White Ribbon Campaign- http://www.whiteribbon.ca/
CBC Archives- http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398/
I just found out that Holy Trinity Catholic High School has a really active Facebook page for the White Ribbon Campaign. Check it out here: Holy Trinity WRC Page
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