McMaster holds ceremony honouring victims of École Polytechnique tragedy

Saturday is the 36th anniversary of the massacre of 14 young women in a shooting at Polytechnique Montréal.

McMaster University remembered the violent act of misogyny with a ceremony and memorial walk on Wednesday.

Somber notes from a dimly lit stage resound, as an engineering student plays a piece representing quiet introspection as part of a commemorative event called “Remember. Reflect. Resist.,” marking the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

“A problem that’s rooted in gender-based violence and patriarchy, and a problem that is systemic and not an interpersonal problem,” said Mirand Jurilj, from the Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area non-profit organization.

A panel of experts discussed the progress, and the challenges that remain.

“We’re still seeing that crimes against women, sexual violence, are still at an escalated level,” said Jurilj.

Then students, staff and members of the Hamilton community gathered for a memorial walk across campus, laying flowers at the memorial stone that remembers the women killed at Polytechnique.

It was on Dec. 6, 1989, when a gunman, motivated by misogyny, entered a mechanical engineering classroom at École Polytechnique in Montreal, separated the men from the women,
and opened fire with a rifle, killing 14 women — most of whom were engineering students in their 20s.

“I felt kindred with those women, I felt like it could have been me, it could have been at McMaster,” said Heather Sheardown, the dean of the faculty of engineering at McMaster University.

Sheardown remembers the day vividly, as she was a similar age studying engineering in Hamilton.

WATCH MORE: McMaster honours victims of École Polytechnique tragedy

She says commemorative events like this week’s at Mac, helps make progress on addressing violence against women.

“What really struck me was the voices of the young women, because they were not there, they were not even born, and yet that event has impacted them,” said Sheardown.

Fourth year engineering student and coordinator at the McMaster Women in Engineering Society Emma Dyck illustrates the point.

“So it kind of serves as a reminder of the progress that we’ve made since that day, but also the barriers that are still existing for us as women in engineering,” said Dyck.

Dyck, who helped emcee Wednesday’s commemoration, says there still isn’t gender parity in engineering programs or in the workforce, and hopes more men will attend the event, and support the effort in the years to come.

“Something we constantly talk about in our Women in Engineering Society as well, like how can we improve allyship, how can we get our male-identifying peers to support us and help us work on this issue together, because we need everyone,” said Dyck.

But in the meantime, Sheardown says McMaster’s many female role models are helping women feel more welcome in engineering.

“That makes a difference, because young women now see this as a place where they can go, and that’s very different than it was in 1989,” said Sheardown.

On Saturday, Canadians are encouraged by advocates and the federal government to wear a white ribbon and observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m.

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