Elementary Teachers Remember and Honour Victims of Montreal Massacre

TORONTO , Dec. 4 /CNW/ - Twenty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1989 , 14 young women were killed at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in what has become known as the Montreal Massacre.

These young engineering students included:

    
    Geneviève Bergeron, 21               Maryse Laganière, 25
    Hélène Colgan, 23                    Maryse Leclair, 23
    Nathalie Croteau, 23                 Anne-Marie Lemay, 27
    Barbara Daigneault, 22               Sonia Pelletier, 23
    Anne-Marie Edward, 21                Michèle Richard, 21
    Maud Haviernick, 29                  Annie St-Arneault, 23
    Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz, 31      Annie Turcotte, 21
    

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario remembers and honours these young women who so violently lost their lives. On this day we mourn their loss and we renew our commitment to work against all forms of violence against women. Their deaths remind us of the reality that too many women die violently every year in this country and around the world.

As teachers, we see the impact of violence against women every day in our students, who may witness this violence or become its victims themselves. We want to create schools that are safe havens for all students and to work towards a society that is free from all forms of violence.

It is on this day that we must also call upon all in our community and governments at all levels to do what is necessary to ensure our homes, schools, universities, and communities are safe. We must all work together to both prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario represents 73,000 elementary public school teachers and education workers across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada .

For further information: Sam Hammond, President, ETFO, [phone] (Office); Larry Skory, ETFO Communications, [phone] (Office), [phone] (Cell)