A prominent gun control advocacy group is repeating its call for an immediate end to new sales of SKS rifles following the deadly shooting in Montreal on Monday. Although police have not publicly confirmed which type of firearm was used by the suspect in the shooting that left Montreal police officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane and civilian Michel Mizrahi dead, Radio-Canada has confirmed it was an SKS rifle — a semi-automatic rifle of Russian origin that dates back to the 1950s. In a media statement Thursday, the group PolySeSouvient urged the federal Liberals to halt new sales of SKS models, saying it would close an obvious gap and send a clear signal.

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https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-work-still-needed-on-industry-sexism-34-years-after-montreal-massacre

"I speak up now. I have the confidence of 34 years of experience, and I know that when you are early in your career, it is risky to speak up. I ask the industry associates to ensure that speaker panels are representative. I hope that this newest generation has fewer little-T traumas and that our education institutions provide support to all women and marginalized genders.

Direct training is required for all. Understanding discrimination, what it is, what it isn’t, what the options for support are, how to defend yourself, and what the role of the bystander is.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/polytechnique-massacre-victims-remembered-with-white-roses-evening-vigil

As it does every year, Polytechnique Montréal will pay tribute this Dec. 6 to the 14 young women who were murdered on this date 34 years earlier, in 1989.

Flags before the main building of the Polytechnique will be lowered until sunset. Student associations placed of wreaths of white roses before the Polytechnique’s commemorative plaque Wednesday morning. The public is invited visit the plaque, which is near the students’ entrance.

White ribbons will be distributed at Université de Montréal and the main tower of the Roger-Gaudry building will be illuminated in commemoration.

Meanwhile, the Association étudiante de Polytechnique and PolyPhoto will present an exhibit in honour of the 14 victims of the massacre in the tunnel linking the main building to the Lassonde building.

At 5:10 p.m., the time when the first shots were fired on Dec. 6, 1989, 14 spotlights will light up the sky over Mount Royal. They will be activated one at a time, within intervals of several seconds, as the names of the victims are said. The event will be livestreamed on Polytechnique Montréal’s social-media accounts.

The public is also invited to visit Place du 6-Décembre, a park named in memory of the 14 victims. The site at the corner of Decelles St. and Queen Mary Rd. recalls the fundamental values of respect and condemns all forms of violence against women.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has indicated he will attend a vigil organized in memory of the victims scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

Twelve of the 14 women murdered were engineering students between the ages 20 and 29. Another, 31, was studying nursing sciences and the 14th was a 25-year-old worker in the finance department.

“For me, as a student, it was really hard to find out about this happening,” Coldwell told Global Winnipeg. “It was very emotional.

This lack of awareness and vision for change may partially explain why we still don’t invest enough in community initiatives to end gendered violence, enabling them to scale up and do what they do best. We continue to place the bulk of our public investments into legal and criminal systems, even though most abuse is unreported, and these systems are not well-suited to prevent violence.

Dec. 6, 1989 was a terrible moment that became a transformative movement. Every year on Dec. 6, we need to revive the momentum anew.

Advocates made sure that the 1989 massacre led to stricter firearm laws and new anti-violence efforts. We need the same energy in 2022 to end abuse in sports and male-dominated sectors, build safety for Indigenous women, Black and racialized women, women with disabilities, and others at elevated risk, and reverse rising rates of femicide, family violence, and sexual assault we’ve seen in Canada over the last few years.