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Canada marks 33rd anniversary of tragic École Polytechnique shooting

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White roses have become the symbol commemorating the victims of the 1989 mass murder (Image courtesy/Nathan Dumlao).
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Tuesday marks the 33rd anniversary of the Ecole Polytechnique shooting in Montreal that took the life of 14 young women and injured 13 others.

On Dec. 6, 1989, a man motivated by a hatred of feminists shot and killed female students at the Montreal engineering school.

In 1991, Canada proclaimed the anniversary of the mass shooting as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

We remember the women who lost their lives that day:

  • Geneviève Bergeron
  • Hélène Colgan
  • Nathalie Croteau
  • Barbara Daigneault
  • Anne-Marie Edward
  • Maud Haviernick
  • Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
  • Maryse Laganière
  • Maryse Leclair
  • Anne-Marie Lemay
  • Sonia Pelletier
  • Michèle Richard
  • Annie St-Arneault
  • Annie Turcotte

A local tribute organized by the Women’s Equity Workgroup from the Hamilton and District Labour Council (HDLC) takes place Tuesday evening.

The commemorative ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre located at 51 Stuart St. in Hamilton.

Tributes are also taking place in Montreal Tuesday to remember the victims.

Students and staff at the Montreal engineering school paid their respects by placing rose wreaths on the commemorative plaque located near the student entrance.

White roses have become the symbol commemorating the victims of the 1989 mass murder. The flowers, Polytechnique Montreal says, now represent “the blossoming of female interest and talent in the fields of science, technology and engineering.”

“It’s important to remember…and it’s important to fight against violence against women just because they are women,” President of Ecole Polytechnique, Maud Cohen said.

Flags outside of Ecole Polytechnique’s main building are at half-mast and will remain like that throughout the day.

At 5:10 p.m., 14 light beams will illuminate the sky above Mount Royal in a ceremony memorializing the women who lost their lives.

Dignitaries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Francois Legault are scheduled to attend the ceremony.

The light beams are scheduled to shine at the time the first shots were fired.

Ecole Polytechnique established the Order of the White Rose scholarship in honour of the 14 women killed.

The school announced Monday that they have chosen Sophia Roy as this year’s recipient of the scholarship, a $30,000 prize

Roy is a Quebec environmental engineering student intent on researching solutions to the global climate crisis.

“I am so honoured to be part of the Order of the White Rose,” Roy, 23, said in an interview before the ceremony. “I will always try to be faithful to the mission and the responsibilities that come with it. It’s really a big day for me.”

The scholarship is awarded annually to a female engineering student who wishes to enroll in graduate studies in engineering at any institution of her choosing, in Canada or elsewhere in the
world.

Polytechnique president Maud Cohen told the ceremony that since 1989, when women were barely 17 per cent of the student body, the school has made great strides in increasing the number of women engineering students.

“This fall, Polytechnique attained a new milestone,” Cohen said. “For the first time, women constitute more than a third of those newly enrolled in the bachelor’s degree, precisely 33.6 per
cent.”

She said the university has already surpassed a national target of having women represent at least 30 per cent of graduates by 2030.

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