Montrealers celebrate International Women’s Day

Friday was a day to celebrate women, and Montrealers celebrated all over the city — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who marked International Women’s Day with an address to a women’s business network.

“It took a group of scientists many years to put someone on the moon but nobody could figure out how to build pantyhose that didn’t rip until a woman got in charge and figured it out,” Trudeau said in his remarks, which focused on the importance of investing in  entrepreneurship led by women.

Elsewhere in the city, Montrealers marked the occasion with roundtable discussions, workshops and marches.

“We’re trying to express the necessity of being proud, of being supportive of telling women they can do anything they put their mind to,” said city councillor Mary Deros, who spoke Friday at the Women in the Spotlight: Echoes of Resilience and Revolution event in Park Extension.

“The community groups in Park Ex are extremely supportive in helping women overcome any obstacle they have in front of them,” Deros said.

The event highlighted the many organizations in Park Extension that are available for immigrant women who face extra obstacles.

“They need more resources, ” said Anastasia Georgiou, a councillor at the Bureau d’Information Parc-Extension (BIPE), “an event like this, bringing them here and advising them and coaching them and teaching them that they are not alone.”

Organizers say it is also a reminder to women of the  importance of supporting each other.

Solidarite Ahuntsic, a neighbourhood social development group, says women face several struggles but one sticks out in particular. “Not being heard,” said spokesperson Alexandra Vakaloulis. She added women are more likely to face housing issues, especially single mothers, and intimate partner violence.

“This is the reality of what is going on, what they are going through, and this is what is happening in our district as well, in Montreal, in the world.”