THUNDER BAY -- Time froze for Carolyne Leroux when she learned there was a gunman in her school on Dec. 6, 1989.
Now the head of project management for the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant, Leroux was an engineering student at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique when Marc Lepine shot and killed 14 women 23 years ago.
Leroux had been studying with friends on the sixth floor of the school and went down to the fourth floor to get help on a question from her professor. As she was in the office, two males burst through the door screaming that someone was following them and shooting at them.
At first Leroux didn’t believe it. It must have been a prank, someone playing a joke before the Christmas break.
“But when you actually see the fear in these people’s eyes and realize you are trapped in this dead end, your life just stops,” she said at Lakehead University’s memorial for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
“Time just freezes. You think of your loved ones. You think about your dreams. You think that all of this will end in this tiny office. There was a long wait, or what feels like a long wait because time doesn’t mean anything at that point,” she said.
Eventually Leroux and the group of people in the office contacted security who directed them to make their way out of the building. Not understanding what was happening as they made their way out, Leroux said all she saw were signs of chaos.
“Schoolbags thrown all over the place. Clothes, shoes, drinks spilled. Chairs, desks all over the place. Still we had no clue the extent of the event,” she said.
Story continues after video ...
It wasn’t until she got to a friend’s apartment and turned on the TV that she realized what had happened.
“On that day, during those events, I was not aware this was an act of violence against women. For me, while hiding in that tiny office while waiting in silence for a sign it was all over, this was just an act of violence against innocent people,” she said.
When Leroux learned the shooting spree was an act against women, she refused to let it impact her negatively or stop her from accomplishing her dreams.
While Leroux sees an event like the Montreal Massacre as a setback to the progress of women’s rights, and while it was enraging in a sense, she used it as fuel for her dreams and went on to a successful career.
“I have always been a person with a lot of dreams, with a desire to succeed, but on that day following those events, I had one more reason and a very truthful one, a very important one … to continue and push through obstacles,” she said.
Leroux tries not to think about that day too much; the memories will always be painful. However, she said it is important to remember what happened at Ecole Polytechnique to continue progress in the search for equality.
“It is important to remember in respect for the families of those victims and to show those lives were not lost, but they are fueling other dreams,” she said.
Gender Issues Centre director Althea Annan said Dec. 6, 1989 is an important day to remember because it’s a hyperbolic example of society’s attitudes towards women.
“We could say it’s one isolated case of a man slighted by women and was upset, but we know better,” she said.
“We know there are countless cases of these types of silent crimes, where women are targeted because being female in this society symbolizes passivity, frailty, vulnerability, weakness and they’re preyed on,” Annan said.
By memorializing the 14 women who died in the Montreal Massacre, Annan said they are paying their respects to women have come before us as a way to create a future plan of how to prevent violence against women.
The Thursday morning ceremony consisted of several speakers from the university and the community and a candlelight vigil.
