Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Dec 06/99) - Ten years ago today, on Dec. 6, 1989, 14 women were gunned down as they attended classes at l'Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. They were killed because they were women.

Their names were:

• Genevieve Bergeron, 21
• Helene Colgan, 23
• Nathalie Croteau, 23
• Barbara Daigneault, 22
• Anne-Marie Edward, 21
• Maud Haviernick, 29
• Barbara Maria Klucznik, 31
• Maryse Laganiere, 25
• Maryse Leclair, 23
• Anne-Marie Lemay, 27
• Sonia Pelletier, 28
• Michele Richard, 21
• Annie St-Arneault, 23
• Annie Turcotte, 21

Dec. 6 has since been named as Canada's National Day of Action and Remembrance. A decade later, students and community members around the country continue to gather to commemorate the 14 women and all other women who have been lost to violence.

Maureen Doherty, a long-time Northern, is an activist who strives to make her community of Iqaluit a safer place. One of her annual contributions is to organize the Dec. 6 ceremony at Arctic College. This year's vigil gets under way today at 4 p.m.

News/North:

Do you think people still have a clear understanding of why Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is Dec. 6?

Maureen Doherty:

I think that people have misconceptions about it. Often they think it's about some women who were killed in Montreal a long time ago and what does that have to do with us in our communities. There's also the argument that to have a vigil on Dec. 6 perpetuates the focus on violence instead of moving forward. I think the whole idea of commemorating the day is to remember it and call for action.

I think it's really important to name the names of the 14 women who were killed. What we try and do at the ceremony at Arctic College is remember the women who have been victims of violence in the North and those who continue to be victims of violence. What we do here is have a ceremony at the college in the main area. Because the Montreal massacre took place in a college, l'Ecole Polytechnique, it's important that as an educational institution we recognize that and have it in a central place.

We have staff members who have lost family members to violence and it's a very difficult day. It's important the community acknowledges those women who were lost. We don't want to forget those women.

As a community, as a college, what are we doing in the North? In Nunavut, we still don't have any human rights legislation. Sometimes we have to be angry to move forward. A day like Dec. 6 really helps us take stock. Have we moved forward? It's been 10 years since the massacre and violence against women continues to be a huge issue.

NN: When the vigils started 10 years ago, they were primarily for women. Do you think that still has a place?

Doherty: It's always a struggle. There have been some very good initiatives by men. The White Ribbon Campaign allows men to continue to work and show their support of the movement to stop violence against women. I think that's crucial. It's important that it be inclusive. Men students and staff have joined in over the years here and I think that solidarity is important, but I still think it's important women take the lead and that it's our voices that are heard.

NN: Do you remember where you were on Dec. 6 when the women were killed?

Doherty: I was living in Nanisivik at the time and my youngest baby was just a few months old. I remember thinking I'm a mother of three sons. How do I make sure these boys grow up to be respectful of women and not be frightened about women taking their rightful place and being strong. How do we help these young men be peacemakers and be loving members of the community? I still remember that, but it felt far away and unbelievable. It still does.

We've had women students at our college who were victims of violence because they were returning to school and that was a threat.

NN: How would you say the events of Dec. 6, 1989, have altered your life?

Doherty: Part of it is that it put it right out there as something we have to recognize. The magnitude of the horror of those 14 young women dying so tragically and needlessly and right in an educational institution, I just think I've had the opportunity to go on with my life. Those women were all between 21 and 29. Right now, they would be between 31 and 39. They'd probably be well into their careers, possibly mothers of children. They would have been strong women entering into a field where not many women have gone. (Engineering) is a non-traditional occupation. The tragedy doesn't end for those families. I feel we have an obligation to continue to work for change and work for peace and to remember those women and all the women who have been victimized.

We always bring the 14 roses and have the students bring them forward in the ceremony. We have the lighting of the qulliq and the whole idea of light is about hope. Then we light candles and have a time to remember. We also bring forward two more roses. One represents women of the North who have been victims of violence and one represents the children who are victimized every time women are victimized. They are often forgotten, but they're the young boys and girls who are seeing the violence and it has to scar them. Some day they're going to be adults. It's got to stop.