(Montreal) Commemoration ceremonies are taking place in most major cities in Canada on Tuesday, in memory of the massacre that occurred 33 years ago, on December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.
A gunman broke into the School premises that day and murdered 14 women and injured 13 people. This anti-feminist attack shook the whole country.
This Tuesday, the flags in front of Polytechnique Montréal’s main pavilion are lowered from dawn to dusk.
Wreaths of white roses will be laid in front of the Polytechnique commemorative plaque, near the student entrance, by representatives of the institution and student associations. The Polytechnique community and the general public are invited to gather in front of the plaque.
In solidarity and in support of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6, many people are wearing a white ribbon. A distribution of ribbons takes place this Tuesday at Polytechnique and the central tower of the Roger-Gaudry pavilion of the Université de Montréal will be illuminated as a commemoration.
At 5:10 p.m., the time the first shots were fired 33 years ago, 14 beams will light up the sky above Mount Royal. The beams will be turned on one at a time, seconds apart, as the names of the 14 victims are called.
On the other hand, the City of Montreal, in collaboration with the Memory Committee, will illuminate the sky of the city for a ninth consecutive year by lighting the 14 beams, an installation created by Moment Factory, to pay tribute to the victims. The event will be broadcast live on Polytechnique Montréal’s institutional social media accounts.
In the meantime, the Polytechnique student association and PolyPhoto are presenting an exhibition until Friday in tribute to the 14 victims of the 1989 massacre. 14 women members of the Polytechnique community, employees and students, have agreed to pose to honor the memory of those who died.
The photos were taken on a film camera since this is how PolyPhoto would have illustrated these 14 women in 1989, with the technology of the time.
The exhibition is presented in the tunnel connecting the main pavilion to the Lassonde pavilions.