Constance Parsons lays a single white rose beside the tea light atop an empty chair representing one of the 14 women killed in the 1989 Montreal Massacre at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained Mini-14 rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing himself. He began his attack by entering a classroom at the university, where he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was “fighting feminism” and calling the women “a bunch of feminists,” he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot. Overall, he killed fourteen women and injured ten other women and four men in just under twenty minutes before turning the gun on himself. David F. Rooney photoEvery year women across Canada commemorate the massacre in different ways. Here in Revelstoke, the commemoration is organized by the Women’s Shelter. This year it was held at noon on Friday, December 6, in the main hall of the Community Centre. David F. Rooney photo
