Saturday marks the anniversary of the Montreal massacre, when 14 female students were shot dead at the L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. On Friday at the University of Regina, 200 roses were handed out to commemorate the tragedy. Organizers of the event say it’s important to keep the issue of gender-based violence in the public eye and strive for a country where women and children are free from violence. A ceremony was also held to honour the women who died that day, with 14 candles lit for each of the lives lost. Event organizers hoped to get the massacre out to the young university students, most of whom were born after the 1989 tragedy. “I think it’s important because the issues of why that happened are still relevant. It provides an opportunity to start a conversation. One, it puts memories, we need to remember these things. And we need to remember the next generation remembers these things. But it’s also an opportunity to start a conversation,” said Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen, YWCA Regina’s CEO. Organizers say that violence against women includes not only physical violence, but also emotional violence and digital violence.
