Hub Staff

The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) – Southport held their annual vigil on Sunday, December 6. Approximately 40 people came together to remember the 14 young women who died in 1989 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal:

Anne Marie Lemay; Anne Marie Edward; Annie St-Arneault; Annie Turcotte; Barbara Daigneault; Barbara Klucznik; Genevieve Bergeron; Helene Colgan; Maryse Laganiere; Maryse Leclair; Maud Haviernick; Michele Richard; Natalie Croteau; Sonia Pelletier.

After entering a classroom, separating the women from the men and telling the men to leave, a gunman declared that feminists had ruined his life and went on a 20 minute shooting rampage, before taking his own life.

In 1991 the Parliament of Canada established the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women to honour those 14 young women. CFUW members lit candles for the victims of the Ecole Polytechnique tragedy and for all women in Canada who continue to be abused or killed most often by their male partners.

CFUW Southport President Pat McCutcheon addressed the crowd, “Last year 427,000 women in Canada over the age of 15 reported they had been sexually assaulted. With police statistics confirming that only one in 10 assaults are reported the actual number is staggering,” she said. McCutcheon continued, saying that on average every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner and Indigenous women are three times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime and four times more likely to be murdered than their non Indigenous sisters. “The CFUW is relieved to see the new Government of Canada taking action on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal women. We urge them to work closely with Aboriginal Groups, women’s groups and the RCMP to find long lasting solutions to end the violence,” said McCutcheon.

McCutcheon believes that the deeply rooted beliefs and systemic inequality that played a role in this act of violence 26 years ago, continue to go unexamined in Canadian society and that overall little has changed.

Last year the Canadian network of women’s shelters released their first pan Canadian survey results on the state of emergency shelters in Canada. On an average day the 242 shelters in this country assist more than 4,000 women and their children. In Grey Bruce there are emergency shelter services available through the Women’s House Serving Bruce and Grey. If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship and needs help, please call 519372-1113.

CFUW Southport is a non partisan, not for profit group actively working to improve the socio economic status of women and girls with a focus on education. For more information, find them on Facebook or visit their website CFUW Southport.