Remembrance is not enough; we must take action

This Thursday, Dec. 6, the UCalgary community will observe the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, commemorating the 14 women whose lives were taken on Dec. 6, 1989, at L’École Polytechnique in Montreal.

This year’s memorial event takes place from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in the main atrium of the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex (ENG 122) — a new location that was chosen to honour the fact that 12 of the 14 women being remembered on this day were engineering students.

Bill Rosehart, dean of the Schulich School of Engineering, sees this event as an important opportunity to remind ourselves not to be complacent when it comes to confronting inequality and violence against women. “We must not only work to embrace diversity; we need to take decisive action to confront intolerance and to protect the vulnerable, because this fight is not over,” he says.

The address at this year’s event will be given by Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, president and vice-chancellor, and the former dean of the Schulich School of Engineering. Marcela Coelho Lopes, vice-president (external) of the Graduate Students’ Association, and Sagar Grewal, president of the Students’ Union, will also speak at the event.

The memorial ceremony is an annual reminder that, as a community, the work to end violence against women and girls isn’t finished. Twenty-nine years have passed since the misogynist act of violence that claimed the lives of 14 women at L’École Polytechnique, but appalling acts of violence against women in Canada are still the norm and not an exception.

The United Nations states that violence against women and girls is the most widespread human rights violation in the world, and it is all of our responsibility to act to end the widespread misogyny by which it is enabled. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25 marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. During these 16 days, the Government of Canada asks that everyone take concrete steps to question, call out and speak up against misogynistic violence. The 16 days, ending Dec. 10 on International Human Rights Day, call attention to violence against women as a human rights issue. 

One part of the UCalgary community, the Women’s Resource Centre (WRC), has been helping raise awareness in their own way through a long-standing annual tradition. Each year, Peer Helpers and other students, along with staff and faculty members, come together to make candles in memory of the women who lost their lives at L’École Polytechnique. This year, these handmade beeswax candles will be sold for $5 a pair from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Dec. 6 memorial event. The proceeds support the WRC’s vital programming to end gender-based violence.

Connor McDonald, kinesiology major and volunteer WRC Peer Helper, led the candle-making activity.

“It was a way to collectively demonstrate that not only is salient violence like this obviously not tolerated, but any violence against women is a travesty, and people will not stand for it,” he says.

Candle-making to promote peace became a tradition in 1987 with the Canadian Voice of Women and has since been reclaimed to remember the 14 lives lost, and to inspire us to bring an end to violence against women.

Laura Fitterer, graduate program strategist at The School of Public Policy, helped organize the event viewing by livestream at the downtown campus. She believes that building bridges across campuses to connect students with vital support and advocacy services is essential when opening dialogue around gender-based violence.

“I was a young woman in university when the massacre happened at L'École Polytechnique,” she says. “The murders were a terrifying reminder that, for many women working towards a free choice and unbiased future, gender-based violence was still very real in Canada.”