Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

On December 6th BC Regional Council member Virginia Vaillancourt, along with the Victoria Regional Womens’ Committee and Canadian Autoworkers Union Local 114, coordinated a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women candlelight vigil at the Legislature in Victoria. Over 80 participants took time to reflect on the Montreal Massacre, heard from speakers, and collected a large amount of donations for local women’s shelters. Here are some photos, and a news report from the Victoria Times Columnist.

Twentieth anniversary of Montreal Massacre brings calls to save gun registry

Commemorations held in Greater Victoria and across the country

By Katie DeRosa , Times Colonist December 6, 2009

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

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This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when a man named Marc Lépine killed 14 young women at the École Polytechnique. This extreme example of violence against women will forever be branded in our collective memory. It is marked yearly on December 6: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

When this misogynist crime was committed, women and men across the country promised to turn their grief and their outrage into action. We lobbied and we marched, signed petitions and demanded that governments adopt effective measures to end all forms of violence against women. Yet, 20 years later, violence against women remains endemic: spousal assault, sexual assault, incest and sexual abuse, sexual harassment and racial harassment continue to plague women, especially the most vulnerable women in society.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

It is with distinct pleasure that the Victoria Regional Women’s Committee of the Public Service Alliance of Canada BC in collaboration with members of Canadian Auto Workers cordially invite you to attend a memorial event on December 6th, 2009 to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and the ongoing initiatives to end violence against women.

• Download a poster (pdf).

We will be holding a Candle Light vigil on the BC Legislature Grounds on December 6th, 2009 from 5:00 pm to 6 pm. We will be collecting on this occasion various personal items such as new socks, towels, toiletries, journals and small house hold appliances to donate to Women’s Organizations in Victoria. This is especially important to us at this time of Liberal budget constraints within the province. We request that everyone in attendance bring an item for donation to this very noble and necessary social initiative. We feel it our responsibility to support this.

We look forward to seeing you at this very important memorial. In Solidarity,

Virginia Vaillancourt – Chair, Victoria Regional Women’s Committee, PSAC
Sarah Dutsch – Canadian Auto Workers Rep, Local 114, Committee Chair

Each year the Public Service Alliance of Canada remembers and mourns the 14 young women who were killed on December 6, 1989 at the �cole Polytechnique in Montreal. We rededicate ourselves every year to end violence against women.

It is estimated that at least one in every four women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime and that in the last five years alone, more than half a million women in Quebec and the rest of Canada (approximately 654,000 women) will have been abused by their common law partner or their husband.

Sexual assault remains a crime that is committed with impunity, since less than 10 per cent of all cases are reported to the police. First Nations, Inuit and M�tis women experience exceptionally high levels of violence. Crushing poverty, a lack of affordable housing, and the legacy of colonialism makes them even more vulnerable to abuse and sexual exploitation.

According to the Sisters in Spirit campaign, more than 500 Aboriginal women are currently missing or have been murdered. Despite sustained mobilization and public pressure, law enforcement agencies still seem to place a low priority on finding missing Aboriginal women. Indeed, charges have been laid in only 42 per cent of the cases, and 56 per cent remain unsolved.

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Each year PSAC members remember and mourn the 14 young women in Montreal attending the École Polytechnique who were killed on December 6, 1989. Each year we rededicate ourselves to end violence against women.

A recent study published by Statistics Canada (Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006) points out that, while we acknowledge the problem, it stubbornly persists. “Women are more likely than men to be the victims of the most severe forms of spousal assault as well as spousal homicide, sexual assault and criminal harassment (stalking)”. Our news media inform us regularly of yet more women and girls who are victims of lethal violence.

It’s important to remember all the women who are victims of violence. It’s even more important to take action to end that violence. We need long-term systemic solutions that will allow women to function on an equal basis in our society. We need solutions that will ensure that women have the economic security they need to end their dependence on abusive relationships. We need governments that recognize that women’s equality is not yet a reality in Canadian society.

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The B.C. Federation of Labour invites you to: National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women

• Wednesday, December 6, 2006, 7:30 am
• Women’s Breakfast
• Days Inn Hotel, 9850 King George Hwy., Surrey, BC

There is no charge for this event but those wishing to attend must RSVP to the Switchboard at the B.C. Federation of Labour – 604-430-1421.

Rally Against Violence Against Women, hosted by Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

• December 6th, 6:30-8 p.m.
• Vancouver Public Library – north side, 350 West Georgia.
• Info (604) 872-8212

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. They died because they were women.

As well as commemorating the 14 young women whose lives ended in an act of gender-based violence that shocked the nation, December 6 represents an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

Violence against women remains a reality in our world. Federal funding for equality-seeking women’s groups is inadequate and threatened. Two dollars for every woman and girl in our society should be allocated for women’s equality. It is not too much to ask.

Send an email message to your MP to raise awareness.