Montreal Massacre marked at B.C. ceremony

At the same time the 28th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre was marked Wednesday at the B.C. legislature, there was a reminder that services like the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre are still needed.

“We must remember the 14 that died that horrible December day and we must remember the thousands who have died before and have died since that day at the hands of male violence,” said Linda Amy, manager of client services at the centre.

On Dec. 6, 1989, a gunman shot and killed 14 women and injured another 14 at Montreal’s École polytechnique. The tragedy was marked across Canada on Wednesday.

In its 35-year history, the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre has served more than 100,000 clients and the clinic has seen a 173 per cent increase over last year.

Amy appeared with NDP MLAs Bowinn Ma and Rachna Singh at the legislature’s Hall of Honour. They stood in for a scheduled appearance by Premier John Horgan and Finance Minister Carole James, who were delayed in a cabinet meeting.

Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, has worked in maledominated fields as a professional engineer, the military, construction and as a labourer in a geological exploration camp in the Yukon.

“I’ve experienced sexual violence, sexual assault. I have endured unwanted and aggressive advances. I’ve been told what women were or were not capable of,” Ma said.

“I’ve worked in jobs where I’ve heard co-workers say out loud that I was just a little girl trying to do a man’s job — that I was there taking up space.

“These sentiments are eerily similar to those expressed that fateful day on Dec. 6, 1989 in Montreal.”

Victoria Pruden, executive director of Bridges for Women in Victoria, said the prevalence of violence against women, along with sexual exploitation and sexual assault, doesn’t appear to be going down. “What I think has changed is the willingness of women to articulate what has happened to them,” she said.

Pruden said the wave of men and women speaking out about sexual violence is encouraging because refusing to let it be hidden is key to stopping it. How parents and society raise boys is also important, she said.

Heidi Rathjen, a former École polytechnique student and witness to the massacre, said from ceremonies in Montreal that it is still important to remember what happened 28 years ago.

“It’s pertinent to talk about it with regard to gun control,” said Rathjen, who helped start a group that lobbies for tighter firearm regulations.

While on a trip to China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in a candle-lighting ceremony at the Canadian Consulate to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Trudeau said more must be done to speak out against gender-based violence against women and girls in Canada and abroad.

“That means valuing the voices of women and girls, fighting the injustices and inequalities that put the most vulnerable women at the greatest risk of violence, and breaking down a culture that dismisses women’s worth — from Hollywood studios to the halls of Parliament,” he said.