Every year, on this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, we pay tribute to the fourteen young women victims of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. We still feel immense sadness when hearing their names:

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

We remember these young women who were brutally robbed of their future. As the years go by, society is becoming more informed and aware, but violence against women remains a daily emergency. One might wonder what has changed in 36 years.

More than a generation has passed since that fateful day in 1989. If we do not repeat this message denouncing violence against women and gun violence, some may forget or, worse still, never know what December 6 means. That is reason enough to honour their memory every year.