A Bad Day for Canada

École Polytechnique ~ 6 DÉCEMBRE, 1989 ~ Geneviève Bergeron 1968-1989 civil engineering student Hélène Colgan 1966-1989 mechanical engineering student Nathalie Croteau 1966-1989 mechanical engineering student Barbara Daigneault 1967-1989 mechanical engineering student Anne-Marie Edward 1968-1989 chemical engineering student Maud Haviernick 1960-1989 materials engineering student Maryse Laganière 1964-1989 budget clerk at École Polytechnique Maryse Leclair 1966-1989 materials engineering student Anne-Marie Lemay 1967-1989 mechanical engineering student Sonia Pelletier 1961-1989 mechanical engineering student Michèle Richard 1968-1989 materials engineering student Annie St-Arneault 1966-1989 mechanical engineering student Annie Turcotte 1969-1989 materials engineering student Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz 1958-1989 nursing student

December 6th, 1917 was the day thousands of people died, and thousands more were injured in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The Halifax Explosion was the largest explosion the world had ever seen before the nuclear age.  Today is the hundredth anniversary of that horrific event. But bad as it was, it was an accident.

The same can not be said for the tragic event of December 6th, 1989.

A disturbed young man deliberately murdered Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz at the École Polytechnique.

Because they were women.

I chose to use the roses because they were part of a candlelight vigil in on December 6th, 2016 in Chilliwack, BC.  People across Canada continue to share in this sorrow.

In response to our collective mourning of the Montreal Massacre, in 1991, the Canadian Government designated the 6th of December as the “National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women in Canada.”

Decades later, Canadians continue to mourn, but the sad fact is that violence against women in Canada shows no sign of abating.  Perhaps we need more than a day.

 


Image Credit

Roses [Dec 6 vigil 5 Corners-1]” cc by University of the Fraser Valley have been released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

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