The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women

Remembering the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre

On December 6, we pause to remember and reflect on Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique massacre in 1989, when 14 young women were murdered specifically because they were (almost exclusively) female engineering students. They were:

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

PEO joins Status of Women Canada in observing and honouring the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women—a day to remember those who have experienced gender-based violence and those who we have lost to it. Working together we can help prevent and address gender-based violence by remembering and learning from our past, listening to survivors, and speaking up against harmful behaviour.

While we reflect on this tragedy, we are heartened that many in the profession are working for change—PEO chapter volunteers and others educating young female students about STEM careers during National Engineering Month; ONWiE-member engineering schools striving to boost women enrolment; senior engineers mentoring young women engineers; and Canadian engineering regulators confirming their support for the 30 by 30 initiative.

The engineering profession can only become stronger by embracing all its members.