Stratford marks 35th anniversary of École Polytechnique massacre

Several dozen people braved the cold and snow Friday morning to gather at Stratford City Hall to commemorate the 35th anniversary of École Polytechnique massacre, and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

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On Dec. 6, 1989, a lone gunman, Marc Lépine, entered a second-floor classroom at the Montreal university and killed 14 women while insulting 10 other women and four men.

Cynthia Hastings, advocacy chair of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Stratford, described the horrific scenes from that day.

“We are here today to remember the 14 young women who were murdered. . . 35 years ago by a man who claimed he was fighting feminism,” Hastings said.

“In the first classroom he entered, he shot nine young women, killing six,” said Hastings, noting that Lépine ordered the 50 male students out of the room.

“The gunman then went on a rampage, killing only women students as he moved through the corridors and into a crowded cafeteria and then into another classroom. He targeted the women students, pursuing those who attempted to hide or to escape. A wounded student asked for help, the gunman stabbed her three times with his hunting knife, killing her,” Hastings said.

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CFUW Stratford remembered each of the women killed that day by having 14 women hold up their photos during the ceremony. Pat De Santi, first vice-president of CFUW Stratford, read of their names in turn: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.

“Today, we honor the memory of each individual woman by putting a face to their names,” Hastings said.

Mayor Martin Ritsma, who lowered the Canadian flag to half-mast, said that there were two reasons for Friday’s solemn gathering.

“One is to mourn and grieve with the families and friends that lost such beautiful lives, but also the importance of us not losing sight of the work that needs to continue to be done,” the mayor said.

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Ritsma pointed to recent events in Stratford where women were victims of violence, including this week, when a women was hospitalized as a victim of alleged intimate partner violenceand the Oct. 15 homicide of Kassidy Ballantyne-Holmes.

Police have not released the full list of charges against the suspect who was arrested Thursday after barricading himself a Mornington Street home. The man accused of Ballantyne-Holmes’ death, Keith Savile, 41, is facing four charges, including second-degree murder.

“It is important for us to recognize the beautiful lives and also ensure that we do our part to carry their voices forward and do our part daily in our community, to recognize that this isn’t a one-time occurrence,” Ritsma said.

During his remarks at the memorial, Perth-Wellington MP John Nater said he was struck by just how young the École Polytechnique victims were “when they were murdered simply because they were women.”

“They were family members, friends and loved ones. Many of them were in engineering programs when they were killed out of pure hatred,” he said.

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