Mr. Speaker, Canadians will be honouring the memory of the 14 young women who lost their lives in 1989 at the hands of a stranger at Montreal's Ecole polytechnique, just because they were female.
Every year, December 6 marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, to ensure that no one ever forgets this tragic moment in our history.
According to Statistics Canada, half of the women in Canada have been the victim of at least one act of physical or sexual violence after the age of 16. Behind each statistic is someone's mother, sister or daughter, someone just like any of the 14 young women whose memory we will be honouring on December 6.
Violence continues. We will, however, use this day to remind ourselves that the efforts of all Canadian men and women are required if the attitudes that perpetuate violence and prevent women from attaining full equality in our society are to be changed.