Survivors, activists mark 31st anniversary of Polytechnique killings
Posted December 6, 2020 12:48 pm.
Last Updated December 6, 2020 1:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – A survivor of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre says the 14 women killed 31 years ago today are more than just names.
Nathalie Provost says there can be no quiet mourning for the dead, even 31 years after they were killed by a gunman acting out of hatred toward feminists, because the fight to prevent violence against women continues.
Provost spoke during a live-streamed ceremony this afternoon at a Montreal park named in honour of the 14 victims, many of whom were engineering students at the school.
More than a dozen people were also injured in the attack on Dec. 6, 1989.
The massacre is commemorated annually, but this year’s events are taking place virtually or without crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fourteen beams of light, representing the Polytechnique victims, will be shone into the sky from a lookout on Mount Royal in Montreal this evening.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, Polytechnique director Philippe Tanguy, and the sister of one of the victims, Catherine Bergeron, will also lay a wreath of roses.
