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Hon. Marci Ien (Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 10:02:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today because 33 years ago on this day a horrific act of violence changed our country forever. On December 6, 1989, 14 women were murdered at École Polytechnique de Montréal when a gunman walked in, separated the women from the men and opened fire. They were murdered simply because they were women. As a member of this place, as a member of cabinet, as a mother, as a sister and as a daughter, I stand here to say that the Government of Canada will not tolerate gender-based violence anywhere in any way in this country. Today, on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, 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 also honour everyone who has been killed as a result of gender-based violence. Last year, 173 women and girls in Canada lost their lives in this way. This amounts to one woman or girl every two days. We stand in solidarity today and every day with victims and survivors of gender-based violence and their families. We bring attention to those most at risk: women and girls; indigenous women and girls; members of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities; women and gender-diverse people with disabilities; and women living in northern, rural and remote communities. We honour and remember the women taken from us: Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. We will not forget them. Gender-based violence has long-term effects on individuals, families and communities. It can happen at work, in families and between acquaintances. It is a form of abuse that costs lives, and it must not be tolerated in Canada. These acts are part of a continuum of hate that needs to be disrupted, and each one of us has the power to help break that cycle. As my hon. colleagues know, we are currently commemorating the annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Our theme is “It's Not Just”, a double meaning that reminds us of both the injustice of gender-based violence and how society perpetuates it by excusing less violent and less obvious forms. I want to take a minute to talk about the lives impacted by these heinous acts. In 2021, 90 homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner. Three-quarters, or 76%, of these victims were women and girls. The number of victims of intimate-partner homicide in 2021 was higher than in 2020, with 84 victims, and in 2019, there were 77 victims. This means mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, cousins and friends. Women and girls from all walks of life were killed at the hands of their intimate partners. Think of the children left behind when a mother is killed by her partner. Think of the mother left to carry on when her child is killed by their partner. Think of the communities left with a hole that cannot be filled when they lose an integral member. At a time when the gun lobby is using the memory of this horrendous anniversary to promote its own agenda, we must stand firm and defend the memories and legacies of those gone too soon. There is so much to be done, and we must all be part of the solution. In the past seven years, we have shown leadership in the efforts to end gender-based violence. I would like now to speak a bit about the progress we have made so far. Since 2015, the Government of Canada has taken a wide-ranging approach to combat gender-based violence, including but not limited to introducing the first-ever federal strategy to address gender-based violence, dedicating 25% of the national housing strategy to support women, banning assault-style weapon and putting a freeze on the sale and transfer of handguns within Canada, listing coercive control as a form of family violence in the Divorce Act, dedicating up to $30 million over five years for crisis hotlines, and working with provinces and territories to deliver a national action plan to end gender-based violence and support survivors. On November 9, the forum of federal-provincial-territorial ministers responsible for the status of women endorsed the national action plan to end gender-based violence. Over the next 10 years, the national action plan will enable federal, provincial and territorial governments to continue working with victims and survivors, indigenous partners, direct service providers, experts, advocates, municipalities, the private sector and researchers to prevent and address gender-based violence in Canada. This work is historic, and we look forward to moving ahead with our provincial and territorial colleagues to put the plan into action. We continue this important work in the memory of every person killed as a result of gender-based violence. We must not relent or feel defeated by the enormity of this issue. We must keep moving forward in our efforts to make Canada safer for everyone. I want to close by addressing those who are hearing this message and who are currently experiencing gender-based violence. I urge them to talk to someone they trust and ask for help. I want to tell them that they are not alone.

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Context: House Hansard - 142 - Dec/6/22

Ms. Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, BQ)

Dec/6/22 10:15:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, 33 years ago, on December 6, 1989, a man entered the École Polytechnique in Montreal and murdered 14 women simply because they were women. We have not forgotten 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. All of us who are old enough remember where we were, who we were with and what we were doing when we heard of the massacre. In our hearts remain those feelings of confusion, horror, incomprehension, incredulity, sadness and shame that we felt after the events of December 6. We carry in our hearts the memory of these women who died needlessly. The tragedy of the Polytechnique now carries a duty of remembrance. We must be aware of the mistakes and tragedies of the past in order to prevent them from happening again. The duty of remembrance requires words, because we must name misogyny, femicide, mass murder, armed violence. These are ugly, dark and dirty words. Unfortunately, though, they are words we continue to hear. They continue to strike, humiliate and destroy. I would like new words to associate with the women at the Polytechnique. We need new words: love, hope, solidarity, determination. The duty of remembrance requires us to name things, take action and live in hope. Equality is making headway, we are becoming more and more aware of misogyny, and we can win. We will never entirely win the battle against violence. There will always be tragedies. However, I am convinced, and I want to be convinced, that we are moving in the right direction. We have no other choice. We owe it to all those who lost their lives because they were women. We owe it to the young women of the Polytechnique, to our sisters recently murdered in Manitoba and to all those who have disappeared or been murdered across Canada, to the hundreds and thousands of women killed in the past 33 years because they were women. We need to move in the right direction. The duty of remembrance also comes with the duty to act. Better gun control laws, the prohibition of assault weapons and the firearms registry in Quebec are steps in the right direction. I will not say that Bill C‑21 is perfect, or that the government is doing things the way it should, but I will say that we need to limit access to assault weapons and that that is also a step in the right direction. Raising the collective awareness of sexual assault cases and of sexual crimes in general is a step in the right direction. It gives us hope. The École Polytechnique women might have been mothers and even grandmothers today. For 33 years, some of the survivors have gone to candlelight vigils on their own, then they brought their sons and daughters, and, this evening, we may see some grandchildren. These successive generations that share the memory of those who were lost demonstrate that we have not forgotten this tragedy, the loss, the responsibility to take action, and that we have not lost hope. Geneviève, Hélène, Nathalie, Barbara Daigneault, Anne‑Marie Edward, Maud, Barbara Klucznik‑Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne‑Marie Lemay, Sonia, Michèle, Annie St‑Arneault and Annie Turcotte. We acknowledge our debt and we shall not forget.

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Context: House Hansard - 142 - Dec/6/22

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Dec/6/22 10:28:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to sincerely thank all my colleagues for giving me your consent. I also thank them for their support; we are all united at this time. I want to warmly thank my colleague, the member for Toronto Centre and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth. I would also like to thank my dear colleague, the member for Sarnia—Lambton, who is an engineer. Her message touched me. Finally, I thank my colleagues, the member for Shefford and the member for Winnipeg Centre. All of us here, as women in this place, do work in an environment that is traditionally male dominated. All of our society is dominated by the notion of patriarchy. Men are usually in charge. On this day of remembrance, it is especially difficult to think about the events of December 6, 1989, a day I remember as though it were yesterday. For all of us women who were alive, conscious and politically aware, there was the deliberate killing of 16 women who were so young. Their only crime was being in a classroom to study to become an engineer. Their only crime was to be a woman. Margaret Atwood said that men are afraid that women will laugh at them, and women are afraid that men will kill them. We are in a time, as many of my colleagues have mentioned, where violence against women is on the rise. Women who are intimate partners are at risk. There is no question that the words of the member for Winnipeg Centre should ring out clearly across Canada that women are particularly at risk when they have two crimes: They are women, and they are indigenous. The recent charges brought against a serial killer in Winnipeg for those deaths must again wake us up to misogyny, racism and the crimes of a toxic culture in which patriarchy is the accepted default position. We have to ask ourselves what more we can do. There is no question that every member of every party in this place is saying it is time that we must end violence against women. Here we are 33 years on, and violence against women continues. What we can say is that we need our allies. On this day, when so many women turn to each other in sisterhood and solidarity, we embrace especially our male colleagues. They are the men who will stand and say that they are a feminist, the men who will stand up and say that patriarchy belongs in the dark ages of history. We must speak out against femicide. We must stand with those women still in Afghanistan and help them to survive. We must stand with all indigenous women and girls across this country, and stand with the families of those who still do not know where their fallen mommies, aunties, sisters and daughters are. We must say that it is time to end violence, violence against women, violence against each other and the violence we carry in our hearts. The killing of the 16 women on December 6, 1989, must never be forgotten. It is of them we think of this day. We also say we know that ending violence is a job for us all. It does not just fall on women, and it does not just fall on governments. It requires that all of us, heart to heart and neighbour to neighbour, pay attention and protect anyone we see as vulnerable. We must step up in the moment when we hear hatred spoken, because words of hate can turn into acts of hate. We must, especially in this place, because we are here and we know each other, try harder to take the violence out of our language and to take polarization out of our politics. Then we can say to Canadians that we are a country that takes care of each other, we love each other and, in memory of the16 women who were killed on this day 33 years ago, we banish hate from our hearts.

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Context: House Hansard - 142 - Dec/6/22

Ms. Lena Metlege Diab (Halifax West, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 2:49:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Thirty-three years ago today I was a law student and remember very well the horrific shooting of 14 brilliant women at École Polytechnique in Montreal. Today is a day we vow to fight back against gun violence and gender-based violence. Can the minister speak about the importance of this day and our government's plan to address gender-based violence?

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