Montreal Massacre to be remembered

Posted: December 3, 2014 4:15 p.m.

Events are being held to mark the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. Photo: U of R Photography

The University of Regina holds events every December as part of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

“It's important for us to gather together to remember the young women who were killed just for being women who chose a non-traditional career,” explains Dr. Dena McMartin, Associate Vice-President (Academic and Research) and a Professor of Environmental Systems Engineering.

On December 6, 1989 a man with a gun entered École Polytechnique in Montreal, and shot 28 people, killing 14 women. Most of the victims were engineering students. The gunman had separated the men and the women, and in his suicide note he blamed feminists for ruining his life.

“It's important for us all to take time to stand up against violence and hatred and sexism and to make sure that all young people feel safe in following their own academic and life path without fear of violence,” says Dr. McMartin.

This year, to commemorate the 25th anniversary, there will be events open to the campus community as well as the public.

A noon-hour vigil will be held on Thursday, December 4 in the main lobby of the Centre for Kinesiology and Health Studies.

Later in the day, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., there will be an open house in the Atrium of the Research and Innovation Centre. Members of the original Women in Engineering committee of the Association of Professional Engineers of Saskatchewan – as it was in 1989 – will also be in attendance. The committee, the first in Canada, was created in 1989, before the École Polytechnique massacre. Many associations later created such committees in response to the massacre. Today's Equity and Diversity committee continues to support and promote diversity in engineering and geosciences.

“I was in high school when the massacre took place. Until that point, it had never occurred to me that being a girl meant I wouldn't be welcomed by some people in my chosen career or in those classrooms. Obviously, it didn't stop me from following my dream of becoming an engineer, but it did make me think twice about difficulties and discrimination in the world and how those difficulties suddenly, in a very distant but real way, had personal meaning,” Dr. McMartin says.