December 6 is a Day of Remembrance, a day to remember, but also a day to empower.
It was 29 years ago on this day that a gunman killed 14 women studying engineering at the École Polytechnique. It has since become known as the Montreal Massacre.
On the evening of December 6, 1989, 25-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a rifle, entered a classroom at the school, separated the male from the female students and began shooting the women. He claimed he was ‘fighting feminism.’ He went on a shooting rampage that lasted 20 minutes before taking his own life.
A vigil was held at Georgian College in Barrie on Thursday to honour the women murdered in the Montreal Massacre.
This morning it started with a song, remembering missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Then the names of each of the women killed in the Montreal massacre were called out one by one as a candle was placed on a memorial in each woman’s name.
“I think the most important message possible is ‘education is the greatest equalizer in life’ and if we empower people, we empower women. Then we can do everything possible to prevent violence in our society,” said Dr. Marylynn West-Moynes, Georgian College president.
Much like the women studying engineering at the École Polytechnique, Lynn MacKinlay has also been a minority in a male-dominated field.
She was the first woman in Nova Scotia to get her red seal in cabinet making. Now she’s a professor in the field and hopes to create a more welcoming environment for women studying trades.
“It’s not because we’re women that we’re disadvantaged,” she says. “It’s because there are systematic disadvantages towards the population of women.”
Events will be held across the country Thursday night.
