44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 6, 2023 02:00PM
- Dec/6/23 2:09:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have a duty to remember the Polytechnique tragedy out of respect for the victims and their loved ones and to make sure that it never happens again. Since 14 women were slaughtered in 1989 by a fanatical misogynist, every year we say, “never again”.
Nevertheless, we are seeing an ever-increasing number of femicides every year. We have an obligation to find a solution to put an end to this downward spiral.
We owe it to Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.
Thirty-four years later, now more than ever, we say, “never again”.
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- Dec/6/23 4:56:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne‑Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik‑Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne‑Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St‑Arneault and Annie Turcotte. Year after year, we insist on repeating those names. We keep saying that we have not forgotten them, but that is not true. We have forgotten those women.
The sound of the sirens on that December day has faded away, and with the passing of time, so have the faces of the Polytechnique women. We rise in the House on December 6, and we are moved as we take turns delivering our liturgy of speeches. December 6 should not be a necessary step, speeches, a candlelight vigil and then nothing until next year comes. Time is a thief and we cannot mourn forever, keeping the sadness and anger inside. Time erases them. It rips them away from us, and we move on to something else.
Would these women, who were murdered because they were women, be any safer today? Are the speeches we are giving right now helping to stop this from happening again, and is this helping give us peace of mind?
What have we done and what are we doing, as elected officials, to ensure that Polytechnique never happens again? A gun registry that was torn up at the first opportunity? A mandatory buyback program for assault weapons that is being postponed until 2025, when we know, or at least suspect, that the Conservatives will be the ones in charge of implementing it? We know what they will do with that program.
The most beautiful speeches in the world will not have as much impact as real action. We want to commemorate Polytechnique and push ourselves to remember the women we lost so cruelly on December 6, 1989, but what are we actually doing? What am I doing to honour their memory? Have we made the best use of the tools democracy has given us to better protect women?
I am far from certain of it. There has been a sharp increase in femicide. In 2022, it was up 20% from the year before. A woman was killed every two days: 184 femicides. It is not slowing down. The Polytechnique tragedy continues. There is not just one killer, but many. The victims are not grouped together, they are isolated, over and over again. What are we doing to stop the cycle of violence? Are we doing enough to ensure that a woman is not killed simply because she is a woman?
The mandatory buyback of assault-style weapons is not a panacea and this Parliament cannot do everything. We must count on everyone. We must count on the federal government. We must count on the governments of Quebec, the provinces and the territories. We must count on the municipalities, community organizations, police, education in our families. We must count on women and we must count on men. Whenever something can be done, we must do it. It takes a will and courage.
Today is December 6, 2023. Thirty-four years ago, a man walked into a school and entered a classroom. He lined women up against a wall and then shot them at point-blank range. He did this because they were women, women with ambitions, dreams and talents, women with lives. All of that was ripped away from them. They were ripped away from us. We will remember them.
We say their names so that they will never truly die, so that we can keep them with us in our hearts. They are Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne‑Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik‑Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne‑Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St‑Arneault and Annie Turcotte.
This must never become a routine or a habit. These women do not deserve to die a second time. Let us keep their memory alive in our hearts. Let us keep the fires of their memory burning bright so that these women, their names and their deaths act as a catalyst, driving us to take action and to do more to combat violence against women. If we succeed in making progress in the fight against violence, if misogyny subsides and if femicides go down, then we will also owe that to these women.
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Madam Speaker, I too would like to rise today and honour the memory of the 14 women who were murdered 34 years ago at École polytechnique de Montréal. These women, studying to become engineers, were trailblazers in a male-dominated field. They were going to change the world. They were going to build, create and inspire other women to follow in their footsteps, but they did not have the chance. Their lives were cut short by an act of unspeakable misogynistic violence. I too want to say their names as my colleagues have here today, because this provides that memory with power in this place.
Today we remember 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. We will remember them.
These women were killed because they were women. They were killed by a man who was consumed by hate. He shouted, “You're all a bunch of feminists, and I hate feminists”. Then he opened fire in a classroom.
It is just as true now as it was then that hate kills. Gendered violence is still a clear and present danger to the safety of women, girls and gender-diverse people; moreover, that violence is rising. In the last year alone, three women in my city of London, Ontario, have been killed by the men in their lives. We lost Carolyn Carter, Caitlin Jennings and Tiffany Gates to femicide. Across Ontario, 62 women and gender-diverse individuals were killed by a man in their life. Anova's emergency shelter for abused women and their children in London has helped 342 women in our city this year, but the shelter was forced to turn people away more than 2,400 times because of a lack of beds.
The experience is the same for so many organizations fighting on the front lines against gender-based violence. The London Abused Women's Centre, Le carrefour des femmes, Atlohsa and My Sister's Place are all seeing a rise in demand for the support and services they provide. The people who work in these organizations are incredible. They are doing everything they can to save people's lives. Of course, that rise in demand is not just happening in London, Ontario. Across Canada, more than four in 10 women have experienced intimate partner violence and a woman or girl is killed every 48 hours.
Yesterday, we received new numbers from Stats Can showing that more women have faced sexual violence and gender-based violence in the military. After years of repeated promises for systemic change and an overhaul of the toxic culture, after so many false starts from senior leadership in terms of making those reforms, the sexual misconduct crisis is only growing.
In this country, there is a hard truth that, if I went missing, it would mean something different than it would if an indigenous woman or girl went missing. In Canada, indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing compared with any other woman in Canada. It is important that we take today to remember the victims of violence against women, but that is not enough. Year after year, government after government has kept women waiting on action for systemic injustices.
There are real, tangible solutions that we can take up in this chamber to support women. Today is a day for us all to find the political courage to act. My colleague spoke about that action that we need to see now. It is possible. We hold that position here today. We have bills from my NDP colleagues, such as Bill C-332, to criminalize coercive and controlling behaviour, from the member for Victoria. Over 95% of victims of intimate partner violence report coercive behaviour and control as a precursor to physical violence. We can take a meaningful step towards ending femicide with this bill by allowing women to speak out early.
On other important changes, I have two bills, Bill C-362 and Bill C-363, that would give women in the military access to justice. Since Justice Arbour's recommendations came forward, we have heard from every party in the chamber that members want to end the rampant abuse and cover-ups that protect perpetrators and hurt survivors of military sexual trauma. We can come together and pass all of these bills.
Finally, in the spring, we unanimously passed the motion from my colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre, to create a red dress alert system to find and protect indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. We can act to create that system.
On this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, I hope we all reflect on the actions we can take and the responsibility we have as parliamentarians. We must renew our efforts to end gender-based violence with the urgency it requires and demands.
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