Labour and our allies have set aside sixteen days of activism for the elimination of gender based violence.

Running from November 25th to December 10th, this campaign never ceases, but in the middle of the sixteen days on December 6th we pause to remember the 14 women murdered thirty three years ago at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Kevin Smith, President of the Grey Bruce Labour Council, emphasizes that “the murders that took place on December the 6th of 1989 were a direct result of gender based violence. The perpetrator of these murders will never be named in anything that the Grey Bruce Labour Council publishes, but the murderer separated women out for the classes before murdering them."

To end gender based violence it must be named, and the heinous and resounding act of cowardice demonstrated by the murderer will always be called out for what it is by the Grey Bruce Labour Council.

Labour committed to ensuring that all people were heard by being one of, if not the first organization, to establish a Women’s Committee in the 1970’s.

Amy Stephen, Labour Council Secretary proudly notes that “this leadership has never paused, and we see in Labour the voices of all workers heard loud and clear. Consistent with this, the Grey Bruce Labour Council has always been a home for all workers and workers in the Grey and Bruce region have been profoundly enriched through this diversity.”

Sergeant-at Arms, Anna Morrison reminds us of a sad responsibility on December 6th. “It is a duty that must never be taken for granted and it is the naming of the fourteen women gunned down on this day in 1989.”

They are:

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

December of 1989 is indeed a long time ago, but thirty three years on it seems that gender based violence and violence against all people remains a daily blight on society.

Chris Stephen, VP Grey County for the Grey Bruce Labour Council, notes “there are no easy answers to this profoundly disturbing reality, but there are well known and well understood steps that can and must be taken. Governments can no longer permit pervasive poverty to exist, and these same governments must without hesitation also undertake to hard work of enacting legislation that limits access to the tools of violence. Unpopular with extremists’ fringes, but an absolute necessity if we are to stem and stop the societal violence that endanger so many and in many cases our most vulnerable.”

Dave Trumble, VP Bruce, Grey Bruce Labour Council, asks “that no matter how long we are from December 6th, 1989, that we each take time in a group or individually to never hide from calling out violence or the poor choices made by lawmakers that enable ongoing violence in our society.”

source: media release