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Fanshawe Remembers École Polytechnique
Fanshawe Remembers École Polytechnique
(London, Ontario) – On Tuesday, December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Fanshawe College will join the nation in remembering those across Canada whose lives have been forever changed by gendered violence.
WHAT: École Polytechnique "Montreal Massacre" memorial
WHEN: Tuesday, December 6 at 12:00 noon
WHERE: Fanshawe College, London Campus – Alumni Lounge, Student Centre room SC2013
Students, faculty, staff and community members will gather in the Student Centre Alumni Lounge at 12:00 noon for a memorial service in remembrance of the victims of the 1989 shootings at École Polytechnique in Montreal. Fourteen volunteer students will light candles to honour those 14 women and all victims of gendered violence.
"This is a day for the Fanshawe community to pay tribute and to reflect on how we can eliminate all forms of violence," says Mary Ann Smith, Professor in Fanshawe's Social Service Worker program and organizer of the memorial. "We all have a role to play in achieving a safer society free from abusive and violent behaviour."
Louise Pitre, Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Centre London, will speak at the memorial, and local artist Tracy Bressette, a Fanshawe graduate, will perform her song 'Woman to Woman.' Other community members will also take part, including recent Fanshawe College graduate Catherine Kedziora, whose mother Theresa Vince was murdered as a result of workplace sexual violence in 1996.
"Violence means that people are robbed of their dignity, their security, their life and their rights to be safe," says Kedziora. "Violence took the life of my mother 15 years ago, as it took the lives of those fourteen women at École Polytechnique. We remember the victims and honour the sacrifices made to help change our society."
Fanshawe College will lower the national flag to half-mast for the day, as a sign of respect for the victims.
On December 6th, 1989, a man armed himself and walked into a classroom at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique where he ordered all of the men to leave and murdered 14 women simply because they were women. As a result the Parliament of Canada declared the anniversary of this day a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It represents a time to pause and reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also a time to remember all the women who live daily with the threat of violence or who have died as a direct result of gender based violence.
