Remembering the Ecole Polytechnique Tragedy

It started out like any other day. It was December 6, 1989, and in the late afternoon I had just come back from campus.

The TV was going in our lounge, but I am not quite sure where I first heard about what became known as the “Montreal Massacre”.

Soon, though, everyone knew about it. A lone gunman had entered Ecole Polyechnique and killed 14 women who were engineering students.

It was horrible and awful, and resonated because we too were students at university.

The interesting thing, which has changed over time, and for the better, is the focus on the gunman. His name was splashed everywhere. For a long time the victims went unnamed.

That has since evolved. His name is no longer mentioned and he is no longer the centre of the story.

Instead, the names of the 14 victims are commemorated, because they were just that – the victims.

They had done nothing wrong, made no provocation, and really were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was a senseless tragedy that still echoes across time.

Empathy
The outstanding memory I have of that tragedy was how it affected one of the girls on my floor. Her name was Jean, and she was an engineering student. I recall her talking about how it was female engineering students who were targeted. She didn’t come out and say anything like, “That could have been me”, or anything like that, but it clearly bothered her.

As I write this I can picture her looking straight ahead in our TV room, obviously her mind some place else.

Parting thoughts
For a long time, people just wondered why this tragedy happened. The focus was on the gunman and his motivation for doing what he did. A lot of the conversation, I recall, was about misogyny and violence against women, which was all very valid.

Tributes poured in and Dec. 6 was never forgotten. Immediately, there were memorials that continue to this day.

It never occurred to me then, but the focus was on the shooter, not the victims.

I am glad that focus has shifted, and we don’t even refer to the shooter by name.

We must never forget the victims:

• Genevieve Bergeron
• Helene Colgan
• Nathalie Croteau
• Barbara Daigneault
• Anne-Marie Edward
• Maud Haviernick
• Maryse Laganiere
• Maryse Leclair
• Anne-Marie Lemay
• Sonia Pelletier
• Michele Richard
• Annie St-Arneault
• Annie Turcotte
• Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

It is sad that this is the first time I have read their names out.

I will never forget them now.