People across the country paused to reflect on the 30th anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in Canada, in recognition of the “National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women”.
Dubbed the Montreal Massacre, the anti-feminist attack took place on Dec. 6, 1989.
The attacker stormed an engineering class at École Polytechnique, ordering the men to leave and opening fire on the female students.
Fourteen people died, 13 were injured.
READ MORE: Feminism met gunfire at École Polytechnique. It’s taken 30 years to call it what it was
Thirty years later, dozens were mourning inside Government House in Fredericton during a candlelight memorial.
“It seemed to be the first real major event in such a dramatic fashion against women that I recall,” Premier Blaine Higgs says.
“And of course after all these years, having this recognition throughout the country indicates what an impact it had.”
In Saint John, the somber anniversary now serves as a yearly reality check of where we stand three decades later.
“Thirty years ago today, Canada was shook with news of a violent massacre that took place in a room very similar to this one,” Norah Siddall told an audience at UNB.
That service was followed by a candlelight vigil on campus.
A moment of national mourning is now a rallying cry in the fight against injustice and violence.