Beams of light for the 34th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre
Posted December 6, 2023 10:07 pm.
Last Updated December 6, 2023 11:22 pm.
Fourteen beams of light lit up Montreal’s sky from Mount Royal on Wednesday night, in memory of the 14 women murdered 34 years ago at Ecole Polytechnique on December 6, 1989.
The act led parliament to designate December 6 as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The beams were lit one at a time on the lookout, as the names of the 14 victims were read.
The lights pierced through the fog from 5:10 p.m., marking the time the first shots were fired the day of the attack, and continued to light the sky over the city until 10 p.m.
IN PHOTOS: 34th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre
“I think it’s important to remember,” said Francine MacInnis, a Montrealer. “I think this kind of display makes quite a statement to keep it fresh in people’s memory that this wasn’t that long ago and this continues to be an issue.”
Montrealers like MacInnis and visitors alike make a point to walk up Mount Royal and take everything in.
“I think any way to memorialize people that lost their lives to shooting is a very important message to send. And especially lights on top of a significant place like Mount Royal,” said Leo, from Seattle.
One by one, each woman’s name called. A rose laid down in honour of each life lost. Then, a moment of silence.
“We have to remember what happened 34 years ago. I remember where I was and people that are old enough remember,” said Premier Francois Legault.
“We learned a few days after how it happened and that those women were killed because they were women. And equality between men and women is not negotiable. And we have all of us to make sure that we help women”
