Flickering candlelight and the smell of burning wax filled the frosty air as a crowd approached the Montreal massacre memorial in Minto Park Dec. 6. Volunteers handed out flowers and information pamphlets as a light snow fell from the sky. Men and women of all ages stood in silence as they watched the passionate speaker at the front of the crowd.
Twenty years ago to the day, a lone gunman terrorized École Polytechnique in Montreal where he shot and killed 14 female engineering students and injured several more.
He did this because he believed that everything wrong in his life was due to feminists, a CBC news report the day of the shootings stated.
Twenty years later, the government of Canada is looking to repeal the long gun legislation that came into existence because of this act of violence against women. This legislation has dropped the rate of spousal deaths by guns by half since its introduction in 1991, a handout distributed at the vigil said.
Violence against women has increased in the past 20 years, not lowered, said Amy Hammet, the mistress of ceremonies and a fourth-year women’s studies and ethics in society student at University of Ottawa. It has become accepted and even funny in contemporary society, Hammett said in her crowd address.
Hammett works with the U of O Women’s Resource Centre as one of the co-ordinators.
She said she feels this day needs to be remembered for the sake of the 14 women and countless others who have been killed since December 1989, because although it feels as though the events of that day are long passed, they are echoed in present-day violence.
“Women are being assaulted and killed at too high a rate, a third of all Canadian women face sexual assault. Not much has changed,” Hammett said.
“[Aboriginal women] are five times more likely to die of violence, and three times more likely to experience violence than other Canadian women,” said Kate Rexe, the executive director of the Native Women’s Associate of Canada.
“We rarely hear of horrific acts against aboriginal women in the news, and the police are not able to help. This is a cry to stop the violence. It’s not just a women’s issue, it’s a men’s issue too.”
The vigil serves as a symbol of solidarity – a place where men and women can come together about this issue society faces.
Francis Picard, a student at the University of Ottawa has attended this event for a few years and said it’s “so important to remember that women are facing violence” and it’s “something the media doesn’t always show”.
Members of Xi Delta Theta sorority from both Ottawa universities were also at the vigil. “Being part of a sorority, it’s important to support women,” Kristin Bennett, a Xi Detlta Theta member, said.
Holly Johnson, a professor at the Ottawa University spoke at church memorial.
“[This act] left a clear message; it was an attack on women’s progress in a male dominant world. [It] was so shocking because it was so extreme. Every day the justice system fails women, the criminal justice system reacts, it does not prevent,” Johnson said.
She said domestic murders often involve long guns and she believes the registry reduced the amount of the murders of women.
She said she fears this would change if the government removes the legislation on long guns.
“This is a matter of inequality, sexism and abuse. We all have a role to play, and the time to start is now,” Johnson said.