Mourners held electronic candles and bowed their heads in silence last week to commemorate one of Canada’s darkest days.
A late afternoon vigil on Main St. marked the 24th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre in which 14 women were gunned down at an engineering school.
“It’s no easier 24 years later to reconcile how someone could slaughter women in Canada because of their gender,” organizer Colleen Arnold, speaking through a microphone, told roughly 40 well-bundled mourners.
“These women were so young. Sadly, the memories of their deaths have lasted longer than most of their lives. That is just another injustice, another tragic point of view to add to the list of many from that horrible day.”
Standing in The Bargain! Shop parking lot last Friday, Dec. 6, Arnold, executive director of the Women’s Resource Centre, said public involvement is needed to end violence against women and girls.
“I call on all Canadians – women and men, girls and boys – to work collaboratively to end all forms of violence against women,” she said. “The involvement of men and boys in this process is unequivocally important, and I believe that by working together we can make it happen.”
Arnold called for each victim of the Montreal Massacre to be remembered by name. At that point, 14 mourners stepped forward, each bearing a photo of a different victim.
Members of the racially diverse crowd, including children, then observed a moment of silence, the electronic flames from their candles illuminating their grave expressions.
Arnold ended her remarks with a call to action.
“Thank you to everyone who has come out today to support ending violence against women and girls,” she said. “Let us here in Flin Flon work together and ‘make it happen’!”
Sharon Harris (left) and Iris Lycan hold electronic candles and photos of Montreal Massacre victims.
Colleen Arnold addresses the mourners with a prepared speech.
Mourners hold photos of Massacre victims in front of The Bargain! Shop parking lot.
PHOTOS BY JONATHON NAYLOR
