14 Not Forgotten

We remember 14 women singled out and slain because they were women, 30 years ago at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal.

06 December 2019

On Dec. 6, 1989, 14 women-12 engineering students, a nursing student and an employee-were singled out because of their gender and slain by a gunman at École Polytechnique de Montreal.

The killings shocked the world and led to the establishment of Dec. 6 as National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.

This year, Polytechnique Montreal will hold a national event to remember the 14 women and bring the country together to condemn violence against women. Beacons of light will be lit at 14 universities, including Engineering at Alberta.

The national commemoration will be live streamed today from each university on CBC or on Facebook from 3 to 3:30 p.m.

Fourteen white roses will also be placed at a memorial plaque in the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex, near the pedway to the Natural Resources Engineering Facility.

In addition to the plaque, there are two other memorial sites on campus: a stone garden situated just west of the south entrance to the Administration Building; and at the university's French-language faculty, Campus Saint-Jean, a statue memorializes the women.

We remember:

Geneviève Bergeron, 21, Civil Engineering Student

Hélène Colgon, 23, Mechanical Engineering Student

Nathalie Croteau, 23, Mechanical Engineering Student

Barbara Daigneault, 23, Mechanical Engineering Student

Anne-Marie Edward, 21, Chemical Engineering Student

Maud Haviernick, 29, Environmental Design Student

Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31, Nursing Student

Maryse Laganière, 25, Polytechnique Montréal Employee

Maryse Leclair, 23, Mechanical Engineering Student

Anne-Marie Lemay, 27, Mechanical Engineering Student

Sonia Pelletier, 28, Mechanical Engineering Student

Michèle Richard, 21, Mechanical Engineering Student

Annie St-Arneault, 23, Mechanical Engineering Student

Annie Turcotte, 21, Materials Engineering Student