Ontario, Durham and Canada honour the memories of 14 women murdered in Montreal 35 years ago

Je me souviens. In fact, ALL Canadians should remember what happened on this day 35 years ago when 14 young women were robbed of everything they could have been when they were murdered at Polytechnique Montreal in an act of violent misogyny that shook the nation.

The murders led Ottawa to designate December 6 as The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Every December 6 we remember:

• 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

Today is a day to mourn their loss and remember their lives, and a time to reaffirm our commitment to fight the hatred that led to this tragedy, and the misogyny that still exists today.

But while the motion certainly brings more awareness to the violence happening against women in this country and around the globe, femicides continue to happen. It was less than three weeks ago, in fact, when a 41-year-old Oshawa woman was found with “obvious signs and trauma” in her home, with her husband later charged with first degree murder.

In mid-October a mom and daughter – Laurie Crew and Katrina Zwolinksi – were murdered in Courtice in another case of intimate partner violence, prompting Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster to declare the community is “heartbroken” while it remembers the 14 young women “senselessly killed in a hateful act of misogyny” in Montreal in 1989.

In Canada and around the world, women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals face unacceptable violence and discrimination, with increased calls related to gender-based violence from police services, shelters, and local organizations in Durham Region and across Canada.

One of those groups fighting the good fight and offering support to the survivors is Victim Services of Durham Region, an organization dedicated to supporting victims of intimate partner and dating violence and human trafficking and exploitation.

The “small but mighty team” that is “working miracles and saving lives every day,” as Oshawa MPP Jennifer French described them in the Ontario Legislature recently, was honoured last month as the first ever winner of the Small Non-Profit of the Year by the New York-based International Anthem Awards.

Everyone can play a role in saving lives. The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is not just about remembering those who have experienced gender-based violence but also a time to educate yourself, your family members and your local community on gender-based violence, centring the voices of survivors in our actions and speaking up against harmful behaviours.

There will be ceremonies around the region today to mark the solemn occasion, with a moment of silence observed at 11 a.m.

Ontario Tech University’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the Women in Engineering Sub-Society will host one of those ceremonies and are inviting students and the community to a memorial ceremony to remember the victims of the École Polytechnique de Montréal Massacre.

The ceremony will take place from 11 a.m. to noon at the Energy Research Centre Atrium.

We will remember.