A Day of Remembrance

For 45 minutes on Dec. 6, 1989 an enraged gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. Marc Lepine, 25, separated the men from the women and before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students he screamed, "I hate feminists." Almost immediately, the Montreal Massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage about all violence against women.

Today acknowledges a National Day of Remembrance and Action of Violence Against Women.

I was only five when this happened, but it is not something that Canadians have forgotten. The gunman killed women because they were women. It was a hate crime that tore 14 women from their families and changed lives forever. On this day, we remember those women and the lasting impact that their loss made on violence against women in Canada.

* Geneviève Bergeron 21, civil engineering student.
* Hélène Colgan 23, mechanical engineering student.
* Nathalie Croteau 23, mechanical engineering student.
* Barbara Daigneault 22, mechanical engineering student.
* Anne-Marie Edward 21, chemical engineering student.
* Maud Haviernick, 29, materials engineering student.
* Maryse Laganière 25, budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department.
* Maryse Leclair 23, materials engineering student.
* Anne-Marie Lemay 27, mechanical engineering student.
* Sonia Pelletier 23, mechanical engineering student.
* Michèle Richard 21, materials engineering student.
* Annie St-Arneault 23, mechanical engineering student.
* Annie Turcotte 21, materials engineering student.
* Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz 31, nursing student.