Communities across Renfrew County will join in a somber moment of reflection this Saturday as Canada marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
Local municipalities and support groups are planning vigils across the Ottawa Valley on December 6th, including the Bernadette McCann House, whose Public Education Coordinator Lauren Kopetoske is encouraged to see people take the opportunity to remember victims and survivors of intimate partner violence.
She explains that the vigils mark the anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, honouring the fourteen women murdered during an anti-feminist attack at the school with fourteen red roses, but also acknowledging the long road still ahead to identify and end intimate partner violence across Canada.
Kopetoske says the message the vigils send is a reminder of the actions our community still needs to follow through on, especially as more local women have been affected by I.P.V. following the murders of Renfrew County residents Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam, and the long list of recommendations made in the subsequent inquest into their deaths.
The community is invited to join officials with Bernadette McCann House for their vigil, taking place at Pembroke’s Carefor Mackay Centre this Saturday at 1:00pm. Meanwhile, the town of Renfrew will host their own white-ribbon vigil inside Low Square at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 5th.
(written by Kasey Egan)