Join Salal for a Vigil of Remembrance and Community Care on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
On Saturday December 6, 2025 we will gather to honour the fourteen women killed at l’École Polytechnique and to remember all those lost to ongoing femicide and violence against marginalized genders.
Salal will be holding a vigil from 3:30–5:30 PM outside the Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson side).
This vigil is a space for mourning, reflection, and community care. Together, we will acknowledge the grief that many carry. Grief for loved ones, for community members, and for the ongoing violence that continues to shape the lives of marginalized genders.
We invite you to join us, to remember someone, to be in community, or to simply bear witness. Candles, flowers, and warm drinks will be available for anyone who wishes to take part.
You are welcome in this space.
The fourteen women who were killed in the 1989 anti-feminist attack at l’École Polytechnique in Montréal on December 6th, were targeted expressly because of their gender and their deaths made visible a crisis of gender-based violence that continues in Canada today.
We remember:
Geneviève Bergeron, 21, civil engineering student
Hélène Colgan, 23, mechanical engineering student
Nathalie Croteau, 23, mechanical engineering student
Barbara Daigneault, 22, mechanical engineering student
Anne-Marie Edward, 21, chemical engineering student
Maud Haviernick, 29, materials engineering student
Maryse Laganière, 25, budget clerk in École Polytechnique’s finance department
Maryse Leclair, 23, materials engineering student
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22, mechanical engineering student
Sonia Pelletier, 28, mechanical engineering student
Michèle Richard, 21, materials engineering student
Annie St-Arneault, 23, mechanical engineering student
Annie Turcotte, 20, materials engineering student
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31, nursing student
These women were killed because the perpetrator believed they did not belong in engineering, in public life, or in spaces associated with power simply because of their gender. His violence did not emerge in isolation. It was rooted in misogyny, entitlement, and the long history of policing who is allowed to hold knowledge, opportunity, and safety.
We are all tired. We are heartbroken. As we reflect on this incident 36 years later, we are still shocked by the lack of progress towards gender equity and inclusion in Canada today. Each year, it seems we have been writing the same versions of this kind of reflection. One that continues to trace the connections between what happened in 1989 and the violence that women, trans and gender-diverse people, non-binary people, Two-Spirit people, and 2SLGBTQI+ communities continue to face, year after year. The fight to continually convince our society that we are valuable and matter is exhausting.
The conditions that led to the massacre continue through the inequities in our systems today. The normalization of gendered harassment, the rise in violence against trans people, the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People, and the ways that racism, colonialism, and ableism shape everyday experiences for marginalized genders. This history is part of a continuum of violence that continues to harm people of marginalized genders across Canada. Its impact so profound that Ontario and BC have both named gender-based violence an epidemic in 2025
Yes, we are all tired. We are frustrated. We are disappointed. But we will not stop. Our work continues because we believe that a different world is possible. We continue on with the hope that one day, we will be writing a different kind of reflection—one that marks the end of gender-based violence. And we hold that hope because we know you, and our communities are building that future together alongside us at Salal.
If you are in Metro Vancouver, we hope you can join us for the Vigil.