Thirty-two years have passed since the tragedy at Polytechnique. Violence against women and gun control remain central concerns. Monday, like every December 6 since the terrible day of 1989 during which 14 young women were killed, it was time for reflection.
In the early evening Monday, Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and François Legault, Mayor Valérie Plante and relatives of the victims gathered at the top of Mount Royal, during a ceremony in memory of the 14 victims of Polytechnique. Fourteen light beams installed at the Kondiaronk belvedere illuminated the Montreal sky, in memory of each of the victims.
“We promised to be the vigilant guardians of the place of women in society,” said Catherine Bergeron, president of the Memorial Committee and sister of one of the victims, Geneviève Bergeron. “But a lot remains to be done. “
Naming feminicides
President of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, Mélanie Ederer was not born when Marc Lépine entered the Polytechnique building with his firearm on December 6, 1989 to sow death. “It left traces in the collective memory. Thirty-two years later, we realize that the rhetoric has changed. It took almost 30 years before there was any talk of an anti-feminist attack, ”she emphasizes. “There is starting to be a better understanding of where violence against women comes from, because it’s systemic, because they are women, because of gender norms. “
Survivor of the Polytechnique drama, Nathalie Provost also perceives the change in the discourse. “Violence against women is not a new story, but what is striking is that feminicides are called for what they are. Five years ago, they were drowned in statistics, ”she said. “That doesn’t make me happy to learn that there are 18 [féminicides depuis le début de l’année au Québec]. I hope one day there won’t be any. But in this regard, we must also act as a society. “
Access to weapons, again
Nathalie Provost multiplied the interviews on Monday, as she does every year. She is speaking out because it is important to her that politicians hear her message for better gun control. ” There is a momentum incredible for gun control on the part of the population, ”she said.
Still, according to her, the federal government is not doing enough to restrict the circulation of handguns, which have claimed many victims in Montreal since the beginning of the year. The federal government must take its responsibilities and stop throwing the ball in the court of the provincial government and that of the municipalities, she repeats.
The commoditization of firearms in the United States exasperates her, and the massacre perpetrated in a Michigan school by a teenager on November 30 is particularly troubling. We cannot allow this trivialization to gain momentum here, she believes: “I think there is a real rise in the desire to have weapons to protect oneself. It is urgent that governments show rigor. “
“It’s not just access to firearms that leads to murders or homicides against women,” notes Mélanie Ederer for her part. “It’s the whole context that leads to this violence. “There has nevertheless been progress with the additional resources made available to women, but it is still insufficient,” she said.
Nathalie Provost hesitates to speak of optimism. “The coming years will not be a field of roses. I don’t think the future is going to be easy for anyone. But if we look for solutions together, maybe we’ll go through those years in a more positive way. In this regard, young people, who are mobilized against violence, must be involved, she says. “They can teach us lessons. “
With Marco Bélair-Cirino