INUVIK
Six people sat in a circle at Aurora College on the evening of Dec. 6, holding candles and reading the names of the 14 women who were killed more than two decades ago in Montreal.

Six people turned out to mark Dec. 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in memory of the 14 women killed at Ecole Polytechnic in 1989. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

While those standing vigil expressed some hope that things have gotten better for women since then, there remain significant problems.

"I still see young women coming in with black eyes and bruises," said organizer Sheila O'Kane.

"I meet young men with brain injuries from various violent encounters."

Dec. 6, the date of the massacre carried out by Marc Lepine at Ecole Polytechnic in Montreal, is now marked in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. O'Kane, who said she is usually a participant in the yearly vigil, said attendance has been waning in the last number of years and that perhaps the event needs to be better promoted.

It does, however, mark the end of something of a season of awareness for violence, starting with Remembrance Day Nov. 11 and followed by Family Violence Awareness Week later in November.

"It seems that this time of year, as we go into the darkness, it's a good time to reflect," O'Kane said.

"And as the light comes back, so should our efforts to end the violence."

Connie Lasheras attended the vigil and said it resonated with her. An instructor at the college, she said a student turned in an essay recently, quoting social reformer Frederick Douglass saying "It is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men."

"The value is to remind us of the horror of violence," Lasheras said.

"Especially children. It doesn't make sense to children, nor should it for anyone."

But an end to violence is clearly far from coming to pass.

O'Kane said she is always a little conflicted about the vigil.

"It was a long time ago, 14 women, it's tragic, but there are so many more young lives that are ended before what should be their time," she said, adding that there have been exponentially more aboriginal women killed since 1989.

"I see this as taking a day to reflect but what we have to stress now is action. We need to create a world in which women - and men - have the right to live and to be respected without violent interference.

"It's similar to Remembrance Day. It's important to maintain a connection between things that have happened and things that are happening now. Sometimes it shows us how far we still have to go."

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