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UNBC virtual event on Wednesday to remember Montreal Massacre

It’s known as the Montreal Massacre and it remains one of the darkest days in Canadian history. On Dec. 6 th , 1989, man walked into an engineering class at L’Ecole Polytechnique holding a semi-automatic rifle.
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Fourteen lights shine skyward at a vigil honouring the victims of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique attack, Thursday, December 6, 2018 in Montreal. Several events are planned across the country to mark the grim 30th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. On the evening of Dec. 6, 1989, a gunman entered Montreal's Ecole polytechnique, killing 14 women in an anti-feminist mass slaying before taking his own life.

It’s known as the Montreal Massacre and it remains one of the darkest days in Canadian history.

On Dec. 6th, 1989, man walked into an engineering class at L’Ecole Polytechnique holding a semi-automatic rifle. He told the nine female students in the classroom to stand on one side of the classroom and sent the male students out of the room. Then, after telling them he was fighting feminism, he opened fire on women, killing six of them.  

He continued his murderous rampage for another 20 minutes, targeting women in hallways, a cafeteria and another classroom, and killed eight more women before he shot himself, leaving 10 women and four men injured. It was at the time the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history.

This Wednesday, as part of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the Northern Women’s Centre at UNBC is organizing a virtual event to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

The event - available online at bit.ly/iwau-2020 – starts at 11 a.m.

It is the final event in the UNBC group’s Inspiring Women Among Us initiative to reduce violence against women and improve gender relations.

Sarah Boyd, the executive director of the Northern Women’s  Centre, says violence and abuse are a daily reality for women and girls in Canada and the problem has grown worse during the pandemic when people are spending more time at home to avoid becoming infected by the virus.

“We need to consider the impact that violence against women has in our community and take action on what we can all do to prevent further gender-based violence,”  said Boyd.