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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 263

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 6, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 263 - Dec/6/23
Hon. Marci Ien (Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Lib.)
  • Dec/6/23 2:59:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, we remember the victims of the massacre at École Polytechnique. The brazen disregard of the safety of women and the clear intent to harm them cast a shadow on our hearts to this day. Even now, gender-based violence remains a real threat to women. Because of this, our commitment to end it has not changed. That is why we have signed 10 agreements, alongside provinces and territories, through the national action plan to end gender-based violence. This work will not stop until it ends.
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Context: House Hansard - 263 - Dec/6/23
Hon. Marci Ien (Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Lib.)
  • Dec/6/23 4:46:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, 34 years ago, a horrific act of gender-based violence shocked and devastated our country. On December 6, 1989, a man walked into a classroom at École polytechnique de Montréal, separated the women from the men and opened fire on the women. Fourteen young women lost their lives that day, and 13 others were injured. This is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We remember the lives lost by saying their names: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz. These 14 brilliant lives were tragically cut short. They were students, daughters, sisters and friends. One was an athlete, another a musician. One spoke five languages. Another wanted to be an engineer just like her dad. Who could they have become? How might they have changed the world? We will never know. This tragedy was a wake-up call when it happened and remains a reminder of the violent consequences of unchecked misogyny. Today and throughout the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we acknowledge that the sexism and hatred that motivated the tragedy at Polytechnique Montréal remains a very real threat for women in Canada, with more than 6.2 million women in Canada age 15 and older having experienced some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. In 2021, 173 women and girls were killed violently in Canada. That is one woman every two days. This violence has a direct impact on our health, social and justice systems. It costs the Canadian economy billions of dollars every year. While anyone can be impacted by this violence, we know that people with intersectional identities suffer the most. This includes indigenous peoples, Black and racialized women, immigrant and refugee women, 2SLGBTQI+ people, women living in northern, rural and remote communities and people with disabilities. We know that this issue is deeply rooted in our society and requires a coordinated response, which is why I worked with governments from every province and every territory to launch the national action plan to end gender-based violence last year. Since the launch of the plan, we have been able to sign 10 agreements, alongside provinces and territories, to get this funding to people working on the front lines, to help women and children fleeing violence and to prevent violence from happening in the first place. We have been able to get these agreements signed quickly because we are all unified and focused on eliminating gender-based violence from our communities, our schools, our workplaces and our country. We must prevent tragedies like the one at Montreal's École Polytechnique by listening to survivors and experts. We need to learn more about gender-based violence and take action to end it. That action must include men and boys as part of the solution and making sure that we break intergenerational cycles of violence. Gender-based violence is not a women's issue. It is a societal issue that we must all stand against. I look forward to seeing members at the Centennial Flame for a moment of silence later today.
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