Remembering the École Polytechnique massacre

News Staff - Tue Dec 06, 2016

Today, the University of Alberta Students’ Union commemorates the 27th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre and recognizes the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine murdered 14 women at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, and injured many more. The Students’ Union remembers those killed: 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 and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz. These women were victims of violent misogyny, murdered because they were women.

The events of December 6, 1989 are deeply saddening, but even more disappointing is that after 27 years, violence against women continues to occur in Canada and around the world. Every day, domestic abuse, sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence injure and kill thousands of women across the country. The University of Alberta Students’ Union strives for an end to this violence and misogyny, and seeks to create safe environments for women to study, grow and thrive both on- and off-campus.

The Students’ Union joins the Non-Academic Staff Association, the Association of Academic Staff, the Graduate Students’ Association, the Post-Doctoral Fellows Association, and the Administration of the University of Alberta in hosting a ceremony to commemorate the women killed at the École Polytechnique. We invite all University of Alberta students, faculty and staff to join us in commemorating the tragic deaths of 14 women and combating sexism and violence against women in all their forms.

Event: 12 p.m. at SUBstage

---