Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, and it also marks the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.
A vigil will be held tonight at the Monument for the Massacre in Riverview, and Beth Lyons, Associate Director of the Moncton YWCA says the event honours not just those who were killed in 1989, but all women who have been killed since then.
Lyons says the event is actually being put on by the Moncton and District Labour Council, and they accept donations each year, and this year the focus of the event is missing and murdered indigenous women.
“The focus is definitely just on the gathering itself, but the District Labour Council does gather donations,” says Lyons. “Last year I believe they went to support for single parents, and this year I believe they are going to a scholarship fund for indigenous women.”
Lyons says there will be speakers before the event, then the vigil, then everyone goes back inside the Dan Bowen Centre and tries to lift one another’s spirits by coming together as a community.
“Once we’ve wrapped up the speaking part,” says Lyons. “We actually head outside to the monument which is in Caseley Park and we have a moment of silence and we lay roses for women locally who were killed.”
She says the event starts at 6:30 at the Dan Bowen Centre, and everyone is welcome.
