About 25 central Albertans held a candlelight vigil at Red Deer City Hall Park on Friday, the 30th anniversary of the Montreal massacre.
The mostly female group, which also included a few males, gathered to remember Canada’s hundreds of missing and murdered women.
Fourteen white roses were held in memory of the 14 young engineering students who were killed by a feminist hater at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989.
A smudging ceremony was also enacted as protection for the vigil’s attendees — and in memory of the 1,181 missing or murdered aboriginal women. This is considered a genocide by many and has prompted calls for a national action plan.
According to data from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, Alberta has among the worst rates of domestic violence in the country. More women are now fleeing from dangerous, life-threatening situations than a year ago.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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