Vigils held in eastern Ontario to mark 35 years since Montreal massacre

Friday marks 35 years since the Montreal massacre, where 14 women were shot and killed at École Polytechnique.

Those lives and the lives of so many other murdered women were remembered at vigils and ceremonies across the National Capital Region.

Roses were laid and candles were lit at the Women's Monument in Petawawa, Ont., as the names of the 62 women killed by femicide in Ontario this year were read aloud.

"It's very important that we mark this day, and we don't let those lives go unremembered. And we also take this opportunity to remember and think of and mourn for those who we've lost in Renfrew County as well," said Erika Mullins, a coordinator with Ending Violence Alliance (EVA) Renfrew County.

Among those in attendance Friday was Deborah Kasdorff, who spent a career working with victims of violence. She says she hasn't missed a Dec. 6 vigil since the tragedy.

"I just appreciate an opportunity to be with kindred spirits and to think back on the women who died, some of whom were clients of mine, whom I knew personally," she says of the names of Renfrew County women read aloud.

"I can picture some of the women I knew. I see their faces. I think it's very powerful to hear the information that's read about each one of them."

At the Women's Monument in Petawawa, the names of 27 women from Renfrew County who have been killed in gender-based violence are etched.

"Those are the ones, obviously, that hit hard," says Petawawa Coun. Lisa Coutu.

"I think those are people that we're missing. We're actively missing them, and that's something that brings everything home."

Notably, the triple murder of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam in 2015 was the catalyst for a coroner's inquest which sought to end intimate partner violence.

The inquest produced 86 recommendations, led by a call for the province to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.

Since June 2022, dozens of municipalities across Ontario have made the declaration, including the County of Renfrew and City of Ottawa.

But many are frustrated by the inaction of the provincial government to make the declaration.

"I'm not sure what they're waiting for. I'm not sure how many women and gender diverse people have to die in order for them to take it seriously," said Mullins.

"I think the issue has maybe gotten too confused for them," says Coutu.

"It's not a question of these definitions; what is an epidemic? We're talking about something that's making people die and we can identify it."