Thirty-four years later, “to never forget”: the commemoration of the Polytechnique massacre, which occurred on December 6, 1989, took place on Wednesday in Montreal, in front of relatives of the victims and dignitaries.
“It was a Wednesday, on this mountain,” recalled Catherine Bergeron, whose sister Geneviève died during the tragedy, in front of the crowd of people gathered at the Mont-Royal chalet at the Kondiaronk lookout. “It was a cold December evening, a bit like today. »
Mme Bergeron, also president of the Memory committee, saluted the legacy of the victims, a legacy that she summed up in two words: “never again”. “We are here to remember them, because we know the duty to remember is more relevant than ever,” she added.
Shortly after 5:10 p.m., the time when the first shots rang out 34 years ago, 14 beams of light — one for each of the victims who lost their lives — illuminated the sky above the Kondiaronk lookout, while the names of these women killed “because they were women” were read.
A minute of silence was then observed in their honor, after which pianist Viviane Audet performed her piece The mountain girlscomposed in memory of the victims.
Anti-feminist attack
The commemoration of the killing was preceded by White Rose Week, which aims to awaken young girls to science and engineering. The flags in front of the main Polytechnique pavilion were also lowered to half-mast at dawn on Wednesday and were to remain at half-mast until dusk.
White ribbons, a symbol of support for the National Day of Remembrance and Action against Violence Against Women, were in honor at Polytechnique and elsewhere at the University of Montreal, as well as at the Kondiaronk belvedere on Mont Royal.
Early in the evening of December 6, 1989, 13 students and an employee of the École Polytechnique saw their lives cut short after a gunman shot them dead because they were women who were studying or working in a field traditionally reserved for men. Today considered an anti-feminist attack, the tragedy shook the entire country.
The victims of the killing
- Geneviève Bergeron, 21 years old
- Maryse Laganière, 25 years old
- Hélène Colgan, 23 years old
- Maryse Leclair, 23 years old
- Nathalie Croteau, 23 years old
- Anne-Marie Lemay, 22 years old
- Barbara Daigneault, 22 years old
- Sonia Pelletier, 28 years old
- Anne-Marie Edward, 21 years old
- Michèle Richard, 21 years old
- Maud Haviernick, 29 years old
- Annie St-Arneault, 23 years old
- Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31 years old
- Annie Turcotte, 20 years old