Okanagan College vigil held for 33-year anniversary of Polytechnique massacre – Okanagan | 24CA News
Tuesday was the thirty third anniversary of the École Polytechnique bloodbath which took the lives of 14 girls in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989.
Post secondaries throughout the nation marked the day by holding vigils, together with Okanagan College at its Vernon campus.
Candles had been lit and purple roses had been laid as Okanagan College college students and workers honoured the lives misplaced 33 years in the past.
“We say it’s an evening of remembrance and action because we want to honour the women that were killed but we also want to spur action. How do we change gender-based violence?” stated Eric Reist, normal supervisor of the Vernon Students’ Association.
Canadians remembered the 14 victims of the assault Tuesday. And yearly, the anniversary of the capturing is acknowledged because the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence towards girls.
“Bring awareness to violence against women that is still happening as is still very prevalent and is very scary,” stated Okanagan College pupil Rebeka Beganova.
“It’s a chance for us to speak about it because it is an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people.”
At the vigil, individuals shared tales of the previous and acknowledge the violence nonetheless seen in communities at this time.
“We also recognize the issues that we have with gender-based violence here in British Columbia. We focus on the indigenous women who have gone missing and have been murdered along the Highway of Tears in Northern B.C. as well,” Reist stated.
The occasion was attended by each women and men. And for some, the presence of males on the occasion reveals a dedication to creating a greater future.
“I’m grateful that you know there are men who are aware of the misogyny that we still live in and that they’re willing to acknowledge it. Not take it as like a personal offence, because it’s not a problem with individual men. It’s a problem with society and our systems,” Beganova stated.
A candlelight vigil was additionally held at Okanagan College’s Salmon Arm campus.
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