14 roses IN SOLEMN MEMORY
On December 6, 1989, an armed man murdered 14 women and injured 13 other people at Polytechnique Montréal.
On December 6, 2009, a commemorative event marking the 20th anniversary of that attack took place at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montréal. At this sombre secular ceremony, Polytechnique remembered the 14 women killed and the impact of the tragedy on their families and friends. Present at the event were parents of the dead as well as survivors, faculty members, staff, students, alumni and former employees, as well as their families. The theme of the ceremony was “Dans nos cœurs demeure le souvenir, dans nos mains fleurit l’avenir” (The memory lives in our hearts, the future blooms in our hands).
The anniversary date of these tragic events subsequently became Canada’s National Day of Commemoration and Action on Violence against Women.
On December 6, 2014, the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, Polytechnique marked the first Week of the White Rose. This major fundraising drive, now called the Campaign of the White Rose, has become an integral part of Polytechnique Montréal's annual commemoration of the events of December 6, 1989.
On December 6 every year, 14 white roses are placed near Polytechnique’s plaque commemorating the victims:
Geneviève Bergeron (21 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Hélène Colgan (23 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Nathalie Croteau (23 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Barbara Daigneault (22 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Anne-Marie Edward (21 years old)
Chemical engineering student
Maud Haviernick (29 years old)
Metallurgical engineering student
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (31 years old)
Nursing student (Université de Montréal)
Maryse Laganière (25 years old)
Employee, Finance department
Maryse Leclair (23 years old)
Metallurgical engineering student
Anne-Marie Lemay (22 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Sonia Pelletier (28 years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Michèle Richard (21 years old)
Metallurgical engineering student
Annie St-Arneault (23years old)
Mechanical engineering student
Annie Turcotte (20 years old)
Metallurgical engineering student
Give a Rose Today