REVP Letter:
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Each year on December 6, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, we honour the memory of the 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal who were murdered in 1989 because they were women.
This year, the Conservative government dishonoured the legacy of these women, and the wishes of thousands more like them across the country, when they abolished the long gun registry and erased all of the existing records. In a press release the Conservative’s gloated about destroying the contents, saying the data can never be recovered.
At a time when we are still fighting to eliminate violence against women, the Harper Conservatives put an end to the service established to keep women safe. According to the Canadian Women's Foundation, 50 per cent of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of violence since the age of 16. Additionally, one woman is killed every six days by her intimate partner. The registry was designed to control this violence.
Even without it, however, we can move forward and work together to ensure that women in Canada are safe from violence. To do that, we must change attitudes and behaviours around violence towards women in our society. This includes non-physical violence, which can leave even deeper scars.
December 6 reminds us to do our part, each and every day, to ensure our community and our country is safe for all women and girls. Please see the attached list of December 6 events across the Prairies and participate in the one in your community.
In Solidarity,
| Marianne Hladun Regional Executive Vice-President Public Service Alliance of Canada, Prairies Lethbridge Event: Candlelight vigil @ Lethbridge YWCA 7pm on Dec 6 |
