'Duty to learn': Vigils mark 35th anniversary of Polytechnique anti-feminist killings

School shooting survivors, dignitaries and the families of victims paid tribute Friday to the 14 women killed in an anti-feminist attack at Polytechnique Montréal more than three decades ago.

On Friday evening, 14 beams of light illuminated the sky above Mount Royal, lit one at a time as the names of the victims were read out. For the first time this year, a 15th beam shone in memory of all victims of femicide.

Families of victims were present for the ceremony along with dignitaries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault.

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Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Trudeau said Canada must continue its efforts to prevent future tragedies.

“Tonight, as we gather to mark 35 years since the killing of 14 women simply because they were women at École Polytechnique, we also remember that in the years since, far too many more women are killed or suffer violence, and it has to stop,” he said.

The 14 victims of the Dec.6, 1989 shootings at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal are shown in file photos. Top row (left to right) Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick and Barbara Klucnik-Widajewicz. Bottom row (left to right) Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Files-CPLegault recalled the disbelief he felt when the tragedy unfolded over three decades ago.

“We didn’t think it could happen. That’s why it was shocking," he told reporters following Friday's ceremony.

Legault welcomed the addition of the 15th beam and urged those who suspect a woman is being subjected to harm to speak out.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault and wife Isabelle Brais place white roses on a table during a ceremony to honour the victims of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, Friday, December 6, 2024. Today marks the 35th anniversary of the shooting rampage that left 14 women dead. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the Polytechnique shooting, said the anniversary stirs many emotions but the victims must not be forgotten.

"In my understanding, we have a duty of memory because a society is never completed or fixed," said Provost.

Louise De Sousa, whose daughter was killed in the 2006 Dawson College shooting in Montreal, was also in attendance.

“I’m here to support Polytechnique because my daughter died at Dawson College," she said before the ceremony, explaining that she and other family members of victims share an understanding through grief.

"We have the same emotions. We all know what we went through. Unless you experienced it, you really can’t know what it is.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks towards beams of light projected into the sky following a ceremony to honour the victims of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, Friday, December 6, 2024. Today marks the 35th anniversary of the shooting rampage that left 14 women dead. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who also participated in the Mount Royal ceremony, released a statement earlier Friday.

"Thirty-five years later, we still have to reiterate that women have the right to live without fear, to follow their aspirations and to achieve their dreams," she said. "Every step toward equality benefits society as a whole."

Earlier in the day, at a separate vigil, dignitaries gathered in front of Polytechnique Montréal's main campus.

Among those silently laying white flowers at the foot of a commemorative plaque was Louis Courville, who was the interim director of the school in 1989.

"I am glad that there are many people who did not forget what has happened," Courville, 90, said afterwards. "At the same time, it's the memory of a very sad, horrible thing."

The women murdered in 1989 were Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.

Thirteen others were injured in the attack perpetrated by Marc Lépine, who took his own life. He had ranted about feminists ruining his life.

Courville was in his office when the shooting began and all he could hear was a rain of bullets. He assumed an armed group had besieged the school. "I couldn't think that it was only one person. I tried to figure out, what are they going to ask of me? Am I going to have to negotiate something?" he recalled.

"But Marc Lépine wasn't coming to negotiate," Courville added. In the days and weeks that followed, he and his wife Jeanne Dauphinais would travel across the province to meet with families of the victims.

Polytechnique Montréal president Maud Cohen said Friday there's a duty to learn from what happened. "We need to remember these young ladies that lost their lives: there were 13 students, one employee," Cohen told reporters.

"It's about making sure everybody can have a path forward," she added. "It's about making sure that everyone, women specifically on Dec. 6, can feel welcome, they can feel like they can blossom and they can really enjoy a place where they can fulfil their dreams."

Mathieu Thibault, a fourth-year civil engineering student at Polytechnique, had the tragedy of Dec. 6 imparted on him at a young age. His mother was at the school the night of the shooting and left with everyone rushing out of the building. Both his parents graduated from the school.

Thibault grew up hearing about double standards and sexism on the job, and upon admission to university, he joined a group advocating for more women in the engineering profession.

"It's a heavy moment, you know, it's time to reflect on how we act: where are we in society?" Thibault said. "And this year in particular, I feel like because it's the 35th, but it's also a year where we've seen a certain rise of toxic masculinity."

Cohen said she is worried that incursions on women's rights in the United States could seep into Canada.

"I'm wondering if the rights that I have right now are going to be the same that the next generation of women are going to have," Cohen said. "I think we all have a responsibility, not just us women, but also the men around us to make sure this doesn't happen to any groups, specifically women."

With files from Joe Bongiorno

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.