It's time to end violence against women.
As people across Canada and in Surrey mark the 22nd anniversary of the massacre at Montreal's École Polytechnique with candlelight vigils and other events, the message that it's time for violence against women to stop is loud and clear.
Fourteen women were killed by gunman Marc Lepine and another 13 injured when he went on a shooting rampage at the school in 1989, targeting the women before killing himself. Lepine reportedly blamed feminists for ruining his life.
At Kwantlen Polytechnic University campuses in Surrey, Cloverdale, Richmond and Langley, students remembered the massacre and supported the need to end violence against women at noon Tuesday with candlelight vigils and speakers to honour the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
On Tuesday evening, another candlelight vigil was planned for Surrey's Holland Park, sponsored by the Public Service Alliance of Canada Vancouver Regional Women's Committee.
Surrey-Green Timbers MLA Sue Hammell, who attended the Kwantlen event and was scheduled to speak at Holland Park, said it is important to remember the massacre and to support ending violence against women, as well as committing to a more equitable society where women are treated fairly.
"The effort to eliminate violence continues, but we're not there yet," she said. "We just have to look around – Surrey, B.C., the interior, the Highway of Tears, the missing women from Vancouver's downtown East Side ... attitudes need to change."