Twentieth Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre -

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | December 6, 2009 at 04:48 am

474 views | 46 Recommendations | 10 comments

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. On Dec 6th, 1999 Marc Lepine walked into Montreal's l'Ecole Polytechnique and gunned down 14 female engineering students.

Apparently Marc Lepine had been denied admission into the school. Marc Lepine was upset at women taken on traditional roles by men.

Marc Lepine, then 25, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, legally obtained, and a hunting knife walked into the school and shot 28 people, killing 14.

Lepine claimed that he was fighting feminism. He walked into classrooms and separated men from women and then shooting them. Marc Lepine killed 14 women and injured 4 men and 10 women in just 20 minutes, before turning the gun at himself.

Lepine was the son of a Canadian mother and an Algerian father. He had been physically abused by his father.

December 6th is now the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Violence against Women.

Dec. 6 marks the 20th anniversary of the day Marc Lepine opened fire in Montreal’s l'Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14 and injuring many others.

The Montreal native opened fire after being denied admission to the school. Lepine was upset about women taking the professional roles traditionally held by men. After the shooting spree, Lepine turned the gun on himself.

The day now stands as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The day honours the victims of the Montreal Massacre, as well as raises awareness about eliminating all forms of violence against girls and women.

The murdered women were:

Geneviève Bergeron, aged 21;
Hélène Colgan, 23;
Nathalie Croteau, 23;
Barbara Daigneault, 22;
Anne-Marie Edward, 21;
Maud Haviernick, 29;
Barbara Maria Klucznik, 31;
Maryse Leclair, 23;
Annie St.-Arneault, 23;
Michèle Richard, 21;
Maryse Laganière, 25;
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22;
Sonia Pelletier, 28; and
Annie Turcotte, aged 21.

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Uwe Paschen

at 06:29 on December 6th, 2009

I was in Hull Quebec when that happened.

Lepine was a very ill men and sadly no one could stop him in time. The question whether he could have been stopped or not is a difficult one for a democratic and free society.

We can not lock up people just because we have suspicions. More security would not be the anther either.

It was a tragedy and one that will hopefully not find any copy cats. Why we need to remember.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 06:07 on December 6th, 2009

Thank you for your comments Paschen. While we can.t find every lunatic in society, hopefully we can pay more attention in recognizing the symptoms and stop them before it.s too late. This was an unfortunate incident and killed good women that would have contributed to society.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 06:30 on December 6th, 2009

Thanks for this, ACP.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 06:33 on December 6th, 2009

You.re very welcome Rhoda. This is a bad day in Canadian history.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 06:43 on December 6th, 2009

Yes, it's unfortunate. More unfortunate, that change is almost always facilitated by tragedy. I still don't understand this thinking -- but it appears very true.

Iffy (not verified)

at 06:35 on December 6th, 2009

There are a couple of interesting aspects to this tragedy.1) Canada was sadly the first country to have such tragedies, beginning with a horrific mass killing of high school students in Ottawa in the 70s. It has had similar tragedies every few years since. Yet the country has had no reflection on this and thinks it is just an American problem.2) Police tactics have changed in other countries, who now recognise you do not hesitate when such an event is under way: you go in and take on the shooter. This worked well in the recent incident on the US military base, where a female officer brought down the shooter.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 06:52 on December 6th, 2009

Here is another incident of the ones Iffy is talking about

A 14-year-old boy wearing a blue trench coat and carrying a rifle walked into a small-town high school in western Canada on Wednesday and shot two other boys - killing one of them and injuring the other.

The shootings in Taber, Alberta, was a replica of last week's Colorado high school massacre in which 12 students and a teacher were killed by two teenagers.

Among Canadians, there was a sense of shock that went beyond sorrow for the casualties: many people had believed that the country's gun controls were strong protection against such violence.

Barbara McPherson

at 06:36 on December 6th, 2009

This is the day for Canadians to remember the fear that women live with every day. When a woman jogger is attacked the police tell women not to jog alone. They remind women to be aware of their surroundings at all times. Some people have even proposed that women be subject to a curfew because it's so dangerous out there. While there are many good and decent men in our Canadian society, there are many that are not. Canadian society has laws on the books to ensure equality but attitudes take a long time to change. We've made some progress against hate crimes directed towards women, but we have a long way to go yet.

Iffy (not verified)

at 06:57 on December 6th, 2009

There is a degree to which Canadians are stun-bunnies when it comes to realising what goes on in the country. Since many Canadians live in suburbs, they can safely ignore the violence that goes on, like gang warfare. They wrongly believe all the bad things happen in the US and that Canada doesn't have things like drive-by shootings or massacres. Yet, Canada has some very awful things happen (a pig farmer murdering prostitutes and turning them into sausages being one). The police no differently since they confront this stuff on a daily basis. Go ask the police about the true state of society.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 07:04 on December 6th, 2009

I agree we're not much different than the U.S. A lot of times we are in denial. Just this weekend a bus driver in Edmonton was hospitalized. He received a beating from a passenger over a fare issue. Go figure. The driver is in intensive care still.