THUNDER BAY -- Until recently, Max Brown had never heard of the Montreal Massacre.
Saturday will mark 25 years since Marc Lepine shot 28 people, killing 14 women, at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique before killing himself.
Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute was looking for a way to commemorate the massacre and raise awareness for violence against women. The school found support in Brown, a 16-year-old grade 11 student, and countless others who spent the last week showing self-produced videos during announcements, putting up posters and signing a giant banner at the school Friday afternoon pledging to end violence against women.
"It just looked like something we had to raise awareness for," Brown said.
Mayor Keith Hobbs stopped by the school to sign the pledge. Young people are getting the message that violence and discrimination are unacceptable.
"If our kids can learn about and stop it then maybe they can educate their parents as well," he said.
Superior teacher and city councillor Andrew Foulds said it's inspiring to see his students so aware of social justice issues.
"We cant just remember these terrible terrible events, we actually have to do something about it," he said.
These students can be role models who stand up and say 'no more' to violence. Thunder Bay has one of the highest domestic violence rates in the country. Aboriginal women are more than three times more likely to be victims while nearly half of 16-year-olds say they've been a victim.
"They're just staggering and in Canada in the 21st century this stuff is still happening," he said.
"We just need to do better and I think we can."
