The memories of 14 women killed at a university in Montreal in 1989 were honoured at an event in Thompson Dec. 6, the 33rd anniversary of the misogynist attack.
Hosted by YWCA Thompson and the Thompson Crisis Centre at the Thompson Regional Community Centre, the event included brief biographies of each of the 14 victims, only one of whom was not a student.
Candles and roses were also placed on a table next to the names of the 14 women killed — – 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 and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.
Another display included photos of four women — at least three of them Indigenous, while the fourth has yet to be identified — who Winnipeg police believe were killed by the same man.
“Today we’re here to honour these 14 women with a vigil but the other thing we like to do in the Thompson Crisis Centre and the YWCA is … to remember murdered and missing Indigenous women … girls that are facing violence,” said YWCA Thompson executive director Kim Hickes.
Those attending the event, including several Thompson councillors, were invited to write the name of a woman affected by violence on a red paper dress or write an action they could take to reduce violence against women on a white paper rose.
A moment of silence was also observed for the women killed in Montreal and the Manitoba women believed to be the victims of a serial killer.
Linda Neckoway, a University College of the North student advisor, also spoke to the gathering about her sister Mildred Flett, who went missing in Winnipeg in 2010.
“Any time there’s river searches and they find a body, you always think it’s going to be her,” she said. “It’s been a really hard journey missing my sister because we don’t know where she’s at and you can’t have a funeral because they haven’t found her body.”
“We recognize gender-based violence is a reality here in Manitoba, in Canada and around the world,” said Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson and Families Minister Rochelle Squires in a joint statement recognizing the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. “Manitoba has some of the highest rates of gender-based violence across Canada. The recent murders of three Indigenous women and another unidentified woman are important reminders that there is so much work that needs to be done to address gender-based violence in our province. These women are not just statistics; they are mothers, daughters, beloved family members and friends and deserve to live a life free of violence.”
The Manitoba homicide victims were also mentioned in a statement by the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
“We are thinking about four First Nations women in Winnipeg who died last spring at the hands of a killer,” said the NWAC statement. “Women everywhere in Canada must be vigilant about their safety. First Nations, Inuit and Métis women must guard against becoming part of the ongoing genocide. We mourn our lost sisters. We embrace the friends and family members left behind. And we demand that governments and others in authority start taking concrete action to end these killings. Women, including Indigenous women, are not expendable.”
