SAMRU looks back on 30 years following the Montreal Massacre
Dec. 6, 2019 marks the 30th year since a mass shooter terrorized École Polytechnique in Montreal; injuring 13 and taking the lives of 14 women. Graphic by Ryleigh Stangness
By Ryleigh Stangness, Staff Writer
Dec. 6, 2019 marks three decades since a mass shooter terrorized École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the University of Montreal on the last day of the term. 27 individuals were shot; 13 were injured and 14 women were killed.
The Student Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) is airing the names and faces of all the victims all around Wyckham House on television screens.
“SAMRU is also collaborating with Campus Equity and Meaningful Inclusion (CEMI) and posting Instagram stories the day of. These stories will be interactive and ask reflection-based questions to get students involved and talking,” SAMRU said in an email.
“CEMI and SAMRU will be setting up a booth on Main Street on Dec. 6, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The table will be there to answer any questions students may have about the event, as well as display a small memorial with pictures,” according to SAMRU.
Many of the women murdered that Wednesday evening were set to graduate, many had jobs lined up, were married, had loving families and friends and big plans for the lives ahead of them.
SAMRU honours the memory of the 14 women killed. Graphic by Andi Endruhn
Sonia Pelletier would have graduated the next day and was set to start her new job as a mechanical engineer the next week. Maud Haviernick, a UQAM environmental design graduate and her classmate Michele Richard, were presenting a paper on metallurgical engineering when they were killed, according to CTV.
The 45-minute massacre is considered an antifeminist act of terror, the shooter spared the men and executed the women, yelling, “J’haïs les féministes [I hate feminists].”
Francine Pelletier, a feminist activist and columnist who was named on a hit list by the gunman, was quoted by the Guardian, “What we realized after the massacre was that there had been a quiet and growing resentment from many men towards feminists and for us, a huge price to pay for all that we had achieved.”
