Hon. Rosa Galvez: Honourable senators, I rise today to commemorate the tragedy that occurred on December 6, 1989, at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Thirty-three years ago, Quebec was horrified to learn of this crime that occurred in a place of higher learning. This multiple femicide was committed by a misogynistic killer who silenced the voices and quashed the wonderful potential of 14 female engineering students.

Since then, the rate of femicide has risen, according to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability. In 2021, 173 women and girls were killed violently in Canada. On average, a crime is committed against a woman in Canada every two days, which is an increase of 26% since 2019.

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Still today, Indigenous women and girls are victims of atrocious violence, leaving communities across the country in mourning and feeling vulnerable. Just last week, we learned of another deranged man taking the precious lives of several young women. This must stop.

Since 1991, we commemorate December 6 as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. This day was created to encourage us to continue raising our voices to find solutions to prevent this kind of violence. This resonates at home, but also abroad. In September, Iranian women and human rights activists gathered in nationwide protests to denounce the death of a young woman at the hands of Iran’s morality police because she did not comply with the country’s strict dress code for women.

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Let us remember the pain that is inflicted on women just for being women. Let us not forget that being a woman should not be an obstacle to freedom of expression, the freedom to choose what to do with her body, to equality and the right to exist.

I want to thank Senators Pate, Audette, Boisvenu, Bernard, Miville-Dechêne, McPhedran, Ataullahjan and all the others who fight in this chamber against all forms of violence against women and girls.

Today we honour the memory of all the victims of the tragedy at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. This is a very emotional time for me. Let us remember all the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and all those who are victims of femicide around the world. We will never forget them.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

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