National Day of Remembrance
and Action on
Violence Against Women
30th Anniversary of the Polytechnique Tragedy
- Christine Dandenault -
December 6 marked the 30th anniversary of the
École Polytechnique shooting,
one of the most tragic events experienced by
Quebec and Canadian society. On December 6, 1989, an individual
opened fire on 28 people, killing fourteen women and injuring ten
women and four men, before committing suicide. At least four
people took their own lives following the tragedy.
 On this sad
occasion, thousands of women and their
organizations are reiterating their agenda for the elimination of
violence against women and for a public authority that takes up
its social responsibility and guarantees the rights of all. The
12 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women was launched in
Quebec on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women, as was the 16 Days of Action
internationally from November 25 to December 10.
Neo-liberal governance in Canada is doing
everything it can to
ensure that the movement remains within the limits of a
"reasonable" and "behavioural" opposition, one that does not
tackle the issue of the violent and anti-social direction of the
economy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed this clearly
again on November 25 when he said, "Today, as we launch the 16
Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, I invite
Canadians to reflect on what we can all do -- through our words
and actions -- to end gender-based violence and create a brighter
future for everyone." This is liberal hypocrisy at its worst and
an insult to women.
The government's litany concerning good or bad
behaviour
exposes its
hypocrisy, as each and every day it targets the dignity of women
and their working and living conditions. The anti-social policy
of government is not a problem of behaviour, nor is its policy
of foreign interference and aggression, nor, for that matter, is
its racist and colonialist policy towards Indigenous women and
their communities. Violence against women and children is
intimately linked to the anti-social and warmongering direction
of the society and today's destruction of arrangements and
institutions that no longer function.
 The
women's movement and
its consciousness are far more advanced than what the Trudeau
government is expressing. They want to decide, to humanize the
society. The demands of women are responding with their own claims for
massive investments in
health care, education and social programs, for organizations working
in
defence of women's rights and for shelters. Indigenous women are
fighting to end the permanent violence inflicted on women and
Indigenous peoples. Since the beginning of the National
Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, on
September 1, 2016, more than 130 Indigenous women have been
murdered, or have died under circumstances
considered suspect. They have been struggling for close to 200
years for their hereditary rights -- their right to be -- which are
denied to such an extent that Canada is being called upon by the
United Nations to put an end to its colonial legacy and address
the root of the problem. What must also be addressed is that Muslim
women in particular are being targeted by the Legault
government's Bill 21. Women are not interested in simply decreasing the
amount of violence they face and refuse to have the issue reduced to a
question of behaviour. They want to eliminate it.
   Commemoration
in Montreal, December 6,
2019, on the occasion of the 30th
anniversary of the École Polytechnique tragedy, at Place du
6-décembre-1989 at the corner of Queen Mary Road and
Bégin Street to pay tribute to the 14 young women who were
killed: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène
Colgan,
Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maude
Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière,
Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle
Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.
Canadian foreign policy is rife with aggressions
committed in
the name of high ideals. Canada's support for the repressive and
corrupt government of Haiti, its interference in the internal
affairs of Venezuela, its support for the political
destabilization of Bolivia, and its refusal to condemn wide-scale
repression in Chile are all "words and actions" that permit
violence to be committed against women.
The struggle being waged by women and girls for
the
affirmation of their rights and for an end to all forms of violence
against them is heroic, courageous and inspiring. It is heroic
and courageous because it is being waged within the context of the
political, social, cultural and economic degeneration of the
society. That degeneration has reached such a level that far from
violence being eliminated, it is occurring on an unprecedented scale
in all spheres of society and is preventing society itself from moving
forward.
Within such conditions, it is a real tribute to
women that on
this 30th anniversary of the tragedy at École Polytechnique,
they
reiterate their demand for the elimination of all forms of
violence committed against them and children. It is to their
honour that they are demanding an end to violence in all its
forms. Today more than ever, the humanization of the natural and social
environment is the order of the day.
 
University of British Columbia, December 6, 2019.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 31 - December 14, 2019
Article Link:
National Day of Remembrance
and Action on
Violence Against Women: 30th Anniversary of the Polytechnique Tragedy - Christine Dandenault
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
