December 6th Vigil

The Waterloo Region December 6 Coalition invites the community to this year’s December 6^th Vigil, in recognition of the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. This year’s vigil begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6^th at Cambridge City Hall.                                                                       

In mid-February of this year, in the middle of student government elections at the University of Waterloo, a man began covering up posters of female candidates with an image of Marie Curie, a nuclear explosion, and the following slogan: “The brightest woman this Earth ever created was Marie Curie, the mother of the nuclear bomb. You tell me if the plan of women leading men is still a good idea!” This began two months of misogynist posters and emails anonymously circulating on campus.

While a former male student was later arrested and charged for these posters and emails, his misogynist actions brought up issues of gender equality on campus; the sentiments he expressed about women and the pursuit of higher education rang eerily similar to the sentiments expressed by the gunman in the Montreal Massacre twenty-two years ago.

This year, Zoe Miller will be speaking at our community’s December 6^th Vigil.  Zoe is majoring in Women’s Studies at the university and her experiences on campus have urged her to speak out against issues of gender justice and oppression.

In 1989, this gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique killing fourteen women. He separated men from women and, before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students, he screamed "I hate feminists." Almost immediately, the Montreal Massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage about violence against women.

Now designated The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, December 6th is a time Canadians remember all those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. It is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

The evening also includes a rose and candle-lighting remembrance ceremony, recognition of women killed over the past year due to male violence in our community and province, and a homage performance from the Woman to Woman Choir.

The Coalition invites all members of Waterloo Region to stand in solidarity with them this year on December 6^th as our community commits itself to be catalysts of change. Violence against women is universal, but it is not inevitable.

Media inquires can be directed to Sara Casselman, Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region at (519) 571-0121 X23 or sara@sascwr.org.