Memorial service recalls Montreal Massacre victims
14 women slain on Dec. 6, 1989 at polytechnic Young women still face violence, speakers say
One by one, the candles were lit. One by one, 14 white roses were solemnly placed in a vase. One by one, 14 names were called out. One by by one, their lives were remembered. One by one, they died on Dec. 6, 1989 — gunned down at L’École Polytechnique — victims of a national horror that has become known as the Montreal Massacre.
At a sombre and moving ceremony yesterday at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Hospital, these 14 women were remembered and honoured by speaker after speaker, all of them calling for an end to violence against women. Above them, a giant banner with a single red rose and the names of the murdered women trailed down from the ceiling, a poignant reminder of the tragedy.
“ I remember the physical shock that hung over me for days,” said Michele Landsberg, former Star columnist and now chair of the board of directors for Women’s College Hospital.
Dec. 6, 1989, was a defining moment for all Canadians, representing a lethal thread of violence in our society, she said. She encouraged those in attendance at the ceremony, and all Canadians, to actively take a stand against violence against women, as well as the helpless. And so one by one the women of the Montreal Massacre were honoured. The lights were lowered. Volunteers went up and down the auditorium lighting candles that each member of the audience held. A song was sung by a local artist. The ceremony was attended by a group of dignitaries including Deputy Chief Jane Dick of the Toronto Police Service, Carolyn Bennett, federal minister for public health, Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, and journalist and author Stevie Cameron. The remembrance at Women’s College was one of scores that took place across the country and the GTA, including ceremonies at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.
At Women’s College’s Cummings Auditorium, Cameron read from a story she had written at the time of the massacre about the joys, hopes and fears of raising daughters. Her words were chillingly true — even now, 16 years later. “No one can make sense of brutality,” said Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Grinspun had a very personal reason for being at the ceremony. This year two Ontario nurses were brutally murdered. “ Let’s together say never again . . . These deaths are chilling reminders of the violence women face in our society.”
“ We must remember so others won’t forget,” said Helene Berman, associate professor of nursing at the University of Western Ontario, and Scotiabank Chair at the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children. Berman outlined for the audience the kinds of violence many young women in Canada still face.
Girls are four times more likely than boys to be the victims of sexual assault by family members, she said. She also told the audience that sexual harassment is a common experience for young girls. As one young woman recently told her: “ It breaks your soul.”