Join us to commemorate the 14 young women killed in the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique mass shooting, we reflect on violence against women and our actions as a community to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence.
On December 6, 1989, fourteen women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique were killed simply because they were women. They were brilliant students, creative thinkers, beloved sisters and cherished daughters. A lone gunman stormed into an engineering class L’Ecole Polytechnique and ordered the men to leave. He then shot and killed six female students in the room before killing more female students and a staff person in other parts of the school. He then turned the gun on himself. After 20 minutes, the largest mass shooting in Canadian history was over.
On December 6, we remember:
As we mourn their loss and remember their lives, we reaffirm our commitment to fight the hatred that led to this tragedy, and the misogyny that still exists today. In Canada and around the world, women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals face unacceptable violence and discrimination. Gender-based violence in Canada has been magnified and amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been reports from police services, shelters, and local organization of an increase in calls related to gender-based violence across Canada during the pandemic.
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is about remembering those who have experienced gender-based violence and those who we have lost to it. It is also a time to take action. Achieving a Canada free from gender-based violence requires everyone living in this country to educate themselves and their families and communities on gender-based violence, centre the voices of survivors in our actions and speak up against harmful behaviours.