Editing École Polytechnique massacre

{{short description|1989 mass shooting in Montreal, Canada}}
{{Redirect|Polytechnique massacre|the film describing this event|Polytechnique (film){{!}}''Polytechnique'' (film)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = École Polytechnique massacre
| image = Mtl dec6 plaque.jpg
| caption = Plaque at {{Lang|fr|École Polytechnique|italic=no}} commemorating victims of the massacre
| location = [[Montreal, Quebec]], Canada
| coordinates = {{Coord|45|30|17|N|73|36|46|W|region:CA-QC_type:event|display=title,title}}
| target = Women at {{Lang|fr|[[École Polytechnique de Montréal]]|italic=no}}
| date = {{Start date and age|1989|12|06}}
| time = 
| timezone = 
| type = [[Mass shooting]], [[mass murder]], [[school shooting]], [[femicide]], [[murder-suicide]], [[terrorism]], [[hate crime]]
| weapons = * [[Ruger Mini-14]] (with 30-round [[high-capacity magazines]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/classes-firearms/maximum-permitted-magazine-capacity | title=Maximum Permitted Magazine Capacity | publisher=Royal Canadian Mounted Police | work=Canadian Firearms Program}}</ref>)
* 6-inch [[hunting knife]]
| fatalities = 15 (including the perpetrator)
| injuries = 14 (including [[Nathalie Provost]])
| perp = [[Marc Lépine]]
| motive = [[Antifeminism]], [[Misogynist terrorism|misogyny]]
}}

The '''{{Lang|fr|École Polytechnique|italic=no}} massacre''' ({{langx|fr|tuerie de l'École polytechnique}}), also known as the '''Montreal massacre''', was an [[Antifeminism|antifeminist]] [[mass shooting]] that occurred on December 6, 1989, at the {{Lang|fr|[[École Polytechnique de Montréal]]|italic=no}} in [[Montreal, Quebec]], Canada. Fourteen women were murdered; another ten women and four men were injured.
The perpetrator was 25-year-old [[Marc Lépine]], armed with a legally obtained [[Ruger Mini-14]], [[high-capacity magazines|30-round high-capacity magazines]], and a [[hunting knife]]. He began his rampage at a mechanical engineering class at the {{Lang|fr|École Polytechnique|italic=no}}, where he separated the male and female students, ordering the men to leave. He shot all nine women in the room, killing six. For nearly 20 minutes the shooter moved through corridors on multiple floors of the building, the cafeteria, and another classroom, targeting women. He wounded more students and killed eight more women before fatally shooting himself. <ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=École Polytechnique Tragedy (Montreal Massacre) |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/polytechnique-tragedy |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629171251/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/polytechnique-tragedy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":18" /><ref name=":19">{{Cite news |date=September 9, 2021 |title=Polytechnique gun control group warns Tories will gut firearms limits |work=Montreal Gazette |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/national/election-2021/polytechnique-gun-control-group-warns-tories-will-gut-firearms-limits |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205192030/https://montrealgazette.com/news/national/election-2021/polytechnique-gun-control-group-warns-tories-will-gut-firearms-limits |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Most web sources including media reports say 13, but a careful check of the coroner's report indicates that there were 14 wounded: one arrived at hospital by foot and was presumably only mildly injured, and therefore probably did not get onto the list of wounded referenced here. Please see https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180531/http://www.diarmani.com/Montreal_Coroners_Report.pdf and confirm it for yourself!!-->

The massacre is now widely regarded as an act of [[misogynist terrorism]] and representative of wider societal violence against women. The anniversary of the massacre is commemorated annually in Canada as the [[National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women]]. The gunman had said he was against feminism; after the attack, Canadians debated various interpretations of the events, their significance, and the shooter's motives. Some interpretations noted that the shooter had been abused as a child, or suggested that the massacre was the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues.

Politicians in the House of Commons responded by passing more stringent [[Firearms regulation in Canada|gun control laws]], and officials took other actions to end violence against women. The massacre also led to policy changes in emergency services protocols to shootings; for instance, that police would intervene immediately to try to reduce casualties. These changes were credited with later minimizing casualties during incidents of shooting in Montreal and elsewhere. This was the deadliest mass shooting in Canada until [[2020 Nova Scotia attacks|attacks in Nova Scotia]] more than 30 years later, which resulted in twenty-two deaths.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/18-confirmed-killed-canada-s-deadliest-mass-shooting-officials-expect-n1188471 | title=Nova Scotia shooting: 22 confirmed killed in Canada's deadliest mass shooting | website=[[NBC News]] | date=April 21, 2020 | access-date=October 23, 2022 | archive-date=October 23, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023143741/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1188471 | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Timeline==
Sometime after 4&nbsp;p.m. on December 6, 1989, [[Marc Lépine]] arrived at the building housing the École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the [[Université de Montréal]], armed with a [[Ruger Mini-14]] rifle and a [[hunting knife]].<ref name="coroner"/> He had legally purchased the gun less than a month earlier on November 21 in a Checkmate Sports store in Montreal, saying that he was going to hunt [[Game (hunting)|small game]].<ref>{{cite news|last =Weston| first =Greg| title =Why? We may never know|newspaper=[[Toronto Sun]]| date = September 14, 2006}}</ref> Investigators learned that he had been in and around the École Polytechnique building at least seven times in the weeks leading up to December 6.<ref name="coroner">{{cite web|last=Sourour|first=Teresa K.|year=1990|title=Rapport d'investigation du coroner concernant le massacre à L'Ecole polytechnique de l'université de Montréal|url=https://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/DepotNumerique_v2/AffichageFichier.aspx?idf=147445|access-date=December 30, 2021|archive-date=December 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230180806/https://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/DepotNumerique_v2/AffichageFichier.aspx?idf=147445|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Exterior of Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal.jpg|thumb|Exterior of École Polytechnique de Montréal|alt=Oblique view of a long, modern building about six storeys high, with many windows and large main entrance]]

The gunman sat for a while in the office of the [[Registrar (education)|registrar]] on the second floor. He did not speak to anyone, although a staff member asked if she could help him.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=24|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2021|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011648/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|url-status=live}}</ref> He left the office and was seen in other parts of the building before he entered a second-floor mechanical engineering class of about sixty students at about 5:10&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=25–6|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2021|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326015921/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|url-status=live}}</ref> After approaching the student giving a presentation, he asked everyone to stop everything and ordered the women and men to opposite sides of the classroom. No one moved at first, believing it to be a joke, but he fired a shot into the ceiling.<ref>{{cite web| title =Gunman massacres 14 women |publisher=[[CBC News]]| date = December 6, 1989| url =http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398-2235/| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110604052652/http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398-2235/| archive-date =June 4, 2011| format =video stream| access-date =December 29, 2006}}</ref><ref name=":9" />

After separating the students, Lépine ordered the estimated fifty men to leave the room.<ref name="cernea">{{cite book|title=Poly 1989: Témoin de l'horreur|last=Cernea|first=Adrian|publisher=Éditions Lescop|year=1999|isbn=2-9804832-8-1}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> He asked the women whether they knew why they were there; a student asked who he was. He said that he was fighting feminism.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":3" /> One of the students, [[Nathalie Provost]], protested that they were [[Women in STEM fields|women studying engineering]], not feminists fighting against men or marching to prove that they were better. He opened fire on the students, from left to right, killing six—Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, and Annie St-Arneault—and wounding three others, including Provost.<ref name=":9">{{cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=26–27|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2021|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326015921/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite news|last=Lachapelle|first=Judith|date=2019-12-06|title=Polytechnique: le récit d'une tragédie|url=https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2019-12-06/polytechnique-le-recit-d-une-tragedie|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=La Presse|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919184548/https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2019-12-06/polytechnique-le-recit-d-une-tragedie |archive-date=September 19, 2020 }}</ref> 

The gunman continued into the second-floor corridor and wounded three students before entering another room where he twice attempted to shoot a female student. When his weapon failed to fire, he entered the emergency staircase and reloaded his gun. He tried to return to the room he had just left, but the students had locked the door. He failed to open it although he fired three shots into the door. 

He shot at other students in the corridor, wounding one, and approached the financial services office. There he shot and killed Maryse Laganière through the window of the door she had just locked.<ref>{{cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=27–30|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2021|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011618/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

[[File:Third floor classroom.JPG|thumb|The third floor classroom in the École Polytechnique in which the attack ended|alt=view of a classroom from the rear, with blackboard and three desks and tables at the front of the class, and five rows of long curved student desks with blue chairs attached.]]

The gunman went down to the first-floor cafeteria, in which about 100 people were gathered. As he shot nursing student Barbara Maria Klucznick near the kitchens and wounded another student, the crowd scattered. Entering an unlocked storage area at the end of the cafeteria, the gunman shot and killed Anne-Marie Edward and Geneviève Bergeron, who were hiding. He told a male and female student to come out from under a table; they complied and he let them live.<ref name=":4" />{{rp|30}}<ref name=":3" />

The shooter walked up an escalator to the third floor, where he shot and wounded one female and two male students in the hallway. He entered another classroom and told the men to "get out", shooting and wounding Maryse Leclair, who was giving a presentation at the front of the classroom.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Boileau |first=Josée |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-77260-143-5 |pages=30 |language=en|access-date=December 27, 2021 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326015915/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|26–27}} He fired on students in the front row, killing Maud Haviernick and Michèle Richard, who were trying to escape the room. Other students dove  under their desks.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />{{rp|30–31}} The killer wounded another three female students and killed Annie Turcotte. He changed the 30-round [[high-capacity magazine]] in his weapon and moved to the front of the class, shooting in all directions. The wounded Maryse Leclair asked for help; the gunman stabbed her three times with his hunting knife, killing her. He took off his cap, wrapped his coat around his rifle, said, "Oh shit", and killed himself with a shot to the head. It was 20 minutes since he had begun the attack.<ref name="injured">{{cite news |last=Buchignani |first=Walter |title=Amid the tragedy, miracles of survival |page=A3 |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]] |location=Montreal |date=December 8, 1989}}</ref><ref name=":4" />{{rp|31–32}} About 60 unfired cartridges remained in the boxes he carried with him.<ref name="injured"/><ref name=":4"/>{{rp|26–27}} He had fired about 100 rounds during the shooting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krajicek |first=David J. |date=2014-10-11 |title=Rifle-toting madman slaughters 14 women at Montreal university in 1989 |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/10/11/rifle-toting-madman-slaughters-14-women-at-montreal-university-in-1989/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Emergency services response===
Emergency response to the shootings was harshly criticized for failures to protect the students and staff. Security guards at the École Polytechnique were poorly trained, organized and equipped.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT111|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|date=2020|publisher=Second Story Press|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=107–108|language=en|access-date=January 4, 2022|archive-date=January 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104150243/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT111|url-status=live}}</ref> Communication issues at the 911 call centre delayed the dispatch of police and ambulances, who were initially routed to incorrect addresses.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=34–37|language=en|access-date=December 30, 2021|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011622/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|url-status=live}}</ref>

The police officers were disorganized and poorly coordinated. They established a perimeter around the building and waited before entering the building. During this period, the gunman killed several women.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/sheppard/20060915.html|title=A sea change in police tactics when it comes to gunmen|last=Sheppard|first=Robert|date=September 15, 2006|access-date=December 29, 2006|publisher=[[CBC News]]|archive-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512120956/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/sheppard/20060915.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> Three official investigations severely condemned the emergency response.<ref name=":5" /> 

Following subsequent changes to emergency response protocols,  police handling of the 1992 [[Concordia University massacre|shootings at Concordia University]], the [[Dawson College shooting]] in 2006, and the 2014 [[2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa|attack on Parliament hill in Ottawa]] were generally praised.  In these incidents, the police conducted rapid and immediate intervention, and improved coordination amongst emergency response agencies was credited with minimizing the loss of life.<ref name="Dawson">{{cite news |url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/14/pf-1839448.html |title=Lessons learned from 1989 Montreal massacre help save lives at Dawson college |last=Rakobowchuk|first=Peter|date=September 14, 2006|newspaper=[[The Canadian Press]]| access-date=December 28, 2006|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115093944/http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/14/pf-1839448.html|archive-date=January 15, 2013|url-status=usurped|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

==Aftermath==
On December 6, 1989, the [[Service de police de la Ville de Montréal|Montreal Police]] director of public relations Pierre Leclair briefed reporters outside the Polytechnique building; when he entered, he found the body of his own daughter Maryse among the dead.<ref name="macleans">{{cite news |last1=Came |first1=Barry |last2=Burke|first2=D. |last3=Ferzoco|first3=G. |last4=O'Farreli|first4= B.|last5=Wallace|first5=B. |title=Montreal Massacre: Railing Against Feminists |work=[[Maclean's]]|date=December 18, 1989 |url=http://business.highbeam.com/4341/article-1G1-8269667/montreal-massacre-railing-against-feminists-gunman |access-date=December 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623001906/http://business.highbeam.com/4341/article-1G1-8269667/montreal-massacre-railing-against-feminists-gunman |archive-date=June 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="funeral">{{cite news |last1 =Mennie| first1 =James|last2=Bauch|first2=Hubert | title = A quiet goodbye for slain women| page =A1| newspaper =[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]|location=Montreal | date =December 12, 1989}}</ref>

The Quebec and Montreal governments declared three days of mourning.<ref name="macleans" /> A joint funeral for nine of the women was held at [[Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)|Notre-Dame Basilica]] on December 11, 1989, and was attended by Governor General [[Jeanne Sauvé]], Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]], Quebec premier [[Robert Bourassa]], and Montreal mayor [[Jean Doré]], along with thousands of other mourners.<ref name="funeral" />

==Victims==
[[File:Marker of Change.jpg|thumb|upright=2.7|center |''Marker of Change'', a memorial consisting of 14 coffin-like benches in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]] by artist Beth Alber|alt= In a park, 14 coffin-like benches of pink stone are set in a circle. A higher slanted pink panel is visible in the foreground.]]

Lépine killed fourteen women (twelve engineering students, one nursing student, and one employee of the university) and injured fourteen <!-- NB most web and news reports state 13 wounded, but the coroner's report indicates several times that actually 14 were wounded.  [multiple conflicting media reports] https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180531/http://www.diarmani.com/Montreal_Coroners_Report.pdf!  -->others, eleven women and three men.<ref name=":19" /><ref name="coroner" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT84|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=84|language=en|access-date=January 10, 2022|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011644/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT84|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Text mentions 28 women, 14 are listed ... presumably only the dead, but never stated-->

* Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968; aged 21), civil engineering student
* Hélène Colgan (born 1966; aged 23), mechanical engineering student
* Nathalie Croteau (born 1966; aged 23), mechanical engineering student
* Barbara Daigneault (born 1967; aged 22), mechanical engineering student
* Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968; aged 21), chemical engineering student
* Maud Haviernick (born 1960; aged 29), materials engineering student
* Maryse Laganière (born 1964; aged 25), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department
* Maryse Leclair (born 1966; aged 23), materials engineering student
* Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967; aged 22), mechanical engineering student
* Sonia Pelletier (born 1961; aged 28), mechanical engineering student
* Michèle Richard (born 1968; aged 21), materials engineering student
* Annie St-Arneault (born 1966; aged 23), mechanical engineering student
* Annie Turcotte (born 1969; aged 20), materials engineering student
* Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958; aged 31), nursing student<!-- Many sources, including both Malette and Chalouh 1991, and Eglin and Hester 2003, say that she was an engineering student. But the interview with her husband in "Rifle Bullet Snuffed Out Dream of a New Life: Victim's Husband", by Marian Scott (Dec 12, 1989), ''The Gazette''. Montreal, Que. is the most convincing. -->

==Memorials==
[[File:MintoParkMemorial.JPG|thumb|Memorial in [[Minto Park]], [[Ottawa]]|alt= circular monument in a park, and made of multiple grey stones. The large central stone contains a bilingual inscription in memory of women killed by men's violence. Many much smaller irregularly shaped stone shafts are carved with women's names.]]

* The École Polytechnique installed a circular memorial on an exterior wall, naming all the victims who were killed and the date of the massacre.
* ''[[Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument]]'' is a public monument in the national capital that honours the lives of local women and girls murdered by men between 1990 and 2000. It is located in [[Minto Park]], off [[Elgin Street (Ottawa)|Elgin Street]], in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario, Canada]]. It was built in 1992 by the Women's Urgent Action Committee in reaction to this event and is a site of annual memorials of this event. It is a protests against a [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] climate of [[violence against women]].<ref name=":0" />
* The City of [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], commissioned a memorial to the victims that was created by Beth Alber and installed in a city park. (See photo about names of victims.)

==Perpetrator==
{{main|Marc Lépine}}

'''Marc Lépine''' (born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi) was the son of Monique Lépine, a [[French Canadians|French Canadian]] former Catholic nun, and an [[Algeria]]n father, who was a non-practising Muslim. He and his sister Nadia were baptized Catholic but received little instruction. According to the mother in a 2006 article, the father, a mutual funds salesman, did not consider women to be the equal of men. He was physically and verbally abusive to his wife and son, and discouraged tenderness between the two.<ref name="Citizen" /><ref name="mother">{{cite news|title=Mother of Marc Lepine finally breaks her silence |publisher=[[CTV News]]|date=September 18, 2006 |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20060925/lepine_mother_060925/20060925/?hub=Canada&subhub=PrintStory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318031547/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20060925/lepine_mother_060925/20060925/?hub=Canada&subhub=PrintStory |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 18, 2007 |access-date=January 1, 2007}}</ref> When Gamil was seven, his parents separated; his father ceased contact with his children soon after.<ref name="Citizen" /> His mother returned to nursing to support the family; because of her schedule, the children lived with other families during the week. 

At age 14, Gamil changed his name to "Marc Lépine", citing his hatred of his father and taking his mother's surname to further separate from the man.<ref name="Citizen">{{cite news | last1 =Weston| first1 =Greg| last2 = Aubry |first2 = Jack| title = The making of a massacre: The Marc Lépine story Part I|work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] | date =February 7, 1990}}</ref> He had difficulty as he advanced in school and toward adulthood.

Lépine had attempted to join the [[Canadian Army]] during the winter of 1980–1981. According to his 1989 suicide letter found on his body at the attacks, he was rejected because he was "anti-social".<ref name="malarek">{{cite news| last =Malarek| first =Victor| title =Killer Fraternized with Men in Army Fatigues| work =[[The Globe and Mail]]| location =Canada| date =December 9, 1989| isbn =9780889204225| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=FHZJxbjlHsgC&q=%22killer+fraternized+with+men+in+army+fatigues%22&pg=RA1-PA41| access-date =January 2, 2007| archive-date =August 15, 2021| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210815122504/https://books.google.com/books?id=FHZJxbjlHsgC&q=%22killer+fraternized+with+men+in+army+fatigues%22&pg=RA1-PA41| url-status =live}} Quoted in ''The Montreal Massacre: A Story of Membership Categorization Analysis'', eds., P. Eglin and S. Hester (2003).</ref> 

The brief biography of the shooter that police released the day after the killings described him as intelligent but troubled.<ref name="Chun">{{cite journal|last=Chun|first=Wendy Hui Kyong|year=1999|title=Unbearable Witness: towards a Politics of Listening|journal=Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies|volume=11|issue=1|pages=112–149}}</ref> He disliked feminists, career women, and women in traditionally-male occupations, such as the police force.<ref name="malarek" /> He began a pre-university [[CEGEP]] (college) program in Pure Sciences in 1982, but switched to a three-year vocational program in electronics technology after his first year. He abandoned this program in his final semester without explanation.<ref name="McDonnell">{{cite news | last1=McDonnell| first1=Rod| last2=Thompson|first2=Elizabeth|last3=McIntosh|first3=Andrew|last4=Marsden|first4=William| title = Killer's father beat him as a child; A brutal man who didn't seem to have any control of his emotions| page =A1| newspaper =[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]] |location = Montreal | date = December 12, 1989}}</ref><ref name="Citizen2">{{cite news | last1 =Weston| first1 =Greg|last2=Aubry|first2=Jack | title = The making of a massacre: The Marc Lépine story Part II|page =A1|work=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |date =February 8, 1990}}</ref><ref name="CEGEP">{{cite news | last =Colpron | first =Suzanne |title =Marc Lépine était un premier de classe |newspaper =[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]]| date =December 9, 1989}}</ref> Lépine applied to the École Polytechnique in 1986 and in 1989 but lacked two CEGEP courses required for admission.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lépine|first1=Monique|last2=Gagné|first2=Harold|title=Aftermath |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |year=2008|isbn=978-0-670-06969-9|pages=170–71}}</ref> He completed one of them in the winter of 1989.<ref name="coroner" /><ref name="Dec6" />

===Suicide letter===
On the day of the massacre, Lépine wrote three letters: two were sent to friends, and one was found in an inside pocket of his jacket.<ref name="coroner"/> The police revealed some details from the suicide letter in the days after the attack, but did not disclose the full text.<ref>{{cite news|last=Malarek|first=Victor|title=More Massacre Details to be Released by Police, but an Inquiry Ruled Out|date=December 12, 1989|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|page=A6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Malarek| first=Victor|title=Killer's letter blames feminists|date=December 8, 1989|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|page=A7}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> 

The media filed an [[Access to Information Act|access to information]] case to compel the police to release the suicide letter but were unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite news|last=McIntosh|first=Andrew|title=Marc Lépine's suicide note to stay sealed; Commission says it can't order police to reveal mass murderer's letter|date=August 22, 1990|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]|page=A3}}</ref> A year after the attacks, the three-page statement was leaked to journalist and feminist [[Francine Pelletier (journalist)|Francine Pelletier]]. It contained a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine labelled as "radical feminists" and apparently intended to kill.<ref name="Chun" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/history/difficultfour.html|title=A Difficult Story to Tell|work=The Story of the Fifth Estate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126052255/http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/history/difficultfour.html|archive-date=November 26, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=December 28, 2006|publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> The list included Pelletier, plus a union leader, a politician, a TV figure, and six police officers who the gunman knew from their playing together on an amateur volleyball team.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fitterman|first=Lisa|title=Cops on Lépine's list: Names of six female officers found on Polytechnique killer|date=March 10, 1999|work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]|page=A3}}</ref> The letter (without the list of women) was subsequently published in the newspaper ''[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]]'', where Pelletier was a columnist.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pelchat|first=Martin|title=Lépine avait des motifs 'politiques'|date=November 24, 1990|newspaper=[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]]|page=A1|language=fr-ca}}</ref> 

In the leaked letter, Lépine wrote that he was rational and blamed  'feminists' for ruining his life. He said he was angry at feminists for seeking social changes that "retain the advantages of being women [...] while trying to grab those of the men".<ref name="citynews">{{cite news|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2006/12/06/citynews-rewind-the-montreal-massacre/|title=CityNews Rewind: The Montreal Massacre|date=December 6, 2006|access-date=December 28, 2006|publisher=[[CityNews]]|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203032822/http://www.citynews.ca/2006/12/06/citynews-rewind-the-montreal-massacre/|url-status=live}}</ref> He referred to [[Denis Lortie]], a [[Canadian Armed Forces]] corporal who had killed three government employees and wounded thirteen others in an armed attack on the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] on May 8, 1984.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Eglin|first1=Peter|last2=Hester|first2=Stephen|title=The Montreal Massacre: A Story of Membership Categorization Analysis |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHZJxbjlHsgC|year=2003|isbn=0-88920-422-5 |page=58}}</ref> The text of the original letter in French is available, as well as an [[Marc Lépine#Suicide statement|English translation]].<!-- Was it published in the book, or where? -->

==Search for a rationale==
The massacre profoundly shocked Canadians. Government and criminal justice officials feared that extensive public discussion about the massacre would cause pain to the families and lead to more [[antifeminist]] violence.<ref name="Chun"/> As a result, they did not conduct a public inquiry,<ref>{{cite news|title=More Massacre Details to be Released by Police, but an Inquiry Ruled Out|last=Malarek|first=Victor|date=December 12, 1989|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Canada|page=A14}}</ref> and did not release Lépine's suicide letter.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT90|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|date=2020|publisher=Second Story Press|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=86|language=en|access-date=January 9, 2022|archive-date=January 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109145901/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT90|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, although an extensive police investigation into the perpetrator and the killings took place,<ref>{{cite news |title = Police scour the life of mass killer| page=B9|newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]]| date =January 12, 1990}}</ref> the resulting report was not made public. The coroner was authorized to have a copy as a source in her investigation.<ref name="coroner" /><ref>{{cite news| last =Poirier| first =Patricia| title =Police can't find cause for Lépine's rampage on Montreal campus| page =A17|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Canada|date = March 1, 1990}}</ref> The media, academics, women's organizations, and family members of the victims protested the lack of a public inquiry and paucity of information released.<ref name="cernea" /><ref name="Chun" /><ref>{{cite news|title =Parents fear coverup over murdered 14| page = A15| newspaper =[[Toronto Star]]| date =May 30, 1990}}</ref>

{{anchor|hate crime}}The gender of the victims, as well as Lépine's oral statements during the massacre and in the suicide note, have resulted in the attack being interpreted as antifeminist and as an example of the wider issue of violence against women in Canadian society.<ref name="Fox">{{Cite journal | last1 =  Fox| first1 = James Alan| last2 = Levin| first2 = Jack| title = Mass Murder: An Analysis of Extreme Violence| journal = Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies | volume = 5 | issue = 1| pages = 47–64 | date = January 2003| doi = 10.1023/A:1021051002020 }}</ref><ref name="young5961">{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Katherine K. |last2=Nathanson |first2=Paul |title=Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systematic Discrimination Against Men |publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]] |location=Montreal |year=2006 |pages=59–61 |isbn=0-7735-2862-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA59 |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815133240/https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA59 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="conway1634">{{cite book |last=Conway |first=John Frederick |title=The Canadian Family in Crisis |publisher=James Lorimer and Company|year=2003 |isbn= 978-1-55028-798-1  |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfamilyin0000conw_u3s7|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref name="Day">{{cite news| last =Fitzpatrick| first =Meagan| title =National day of remembrance pays tribute to victims of Montreal massacre| publisher =CanWest News Service| date =December 6, 2006| url =http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=dcb98c06-2c4f-46f1-bc6f-6a147308a252&k=33060| access-date =December 27, 2006| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071209095709/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=dcb98c06-2c4f-46f1-bc6f-6a147308a252&k=33060| archive-date =December 9, 2007| df =mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Eglin|first1=Peter|last2=Hester|first2=Stephen|title=The Montreal Massacre: A Story of Membership Categorization Analysis |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHZJxbjlHsgC|year=2003|isbn=0-88920-422-5 |pages=65–88}}</ref> Initially, politicians and the media downplayed the antifeminism angle of the attack.<ref name="conway164">{{cite book|last=Conway|first=John Frederick|url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfamilyin0000conw_u3s7|title=The Canadian family in crisis|publisher=James Lorimer and Company|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55028-798-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianfamilyin0000conw_u3s7/page/164 164]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=81–86|language=en|access-date=January 22, 2022|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122155906/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|url-status=live}}</ref> Political leaders such as [[Robert Bourassa]], [[Claude Ryan]], and [[Jacques Parizeau]] spoke about "victims" and "youth" rather than "women" or "girls".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=83|language=en|access-date=January 22, 2022|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122155906/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|url-status=live}}</ref> The television journalist [[Barbara Frum]] pleaded against interpreting the massacre as an antifeminist attack or solely violence against women. She asked why people were "diminishing" the tragedy by "suggesting that it was an act against just one group?"<ref name="conway164" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite news|last=Gester|first=Jane|date=16 December 2019|title=Feminism met gunfire at École Polytechnique. It's taken 30 years to call it what it was|work=Global News|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6242996/ecole-polytechnique-violence/|access-date=22 January 2022|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122155905/https://globalnews.ca/news/6242996/ecole-polytechnique-violence/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{anchor|psychiatry}}As predicted by the shooter in his suicide letter,<ref name="citynews" /> some observers believed the event was the isolated act of a madman.<ref name="Chun" /><ref name="conway164" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Eglin|first1=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHZJxbjlHsgC|title=The Montreal Massacre: A Story of Membership Categorization Analysis|last2=Hester|first2=Stephen|publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|year=2003|isbn=0-88920-422-5|pages=54–55}}</ref> A psychiatrist interviewed the gunman's family and friends, and examined his writings as part of the police investigation. He noted that the perpetrator defined suicide as his primary motivation, and that he chose a specific suicide method, namely killing oneself after killing others (multiple homicide/suicide strategy), which is considered a sign of a serious [[personality disorder]].<ref name="coroner" /> Other psychiatrists emphasized the traumatic events of his childhood, suggesting that the blows he had received may have caused brain damage, or that he was [[psychotic]], having lost touch with reality as he tried to erase the memories of a brutal (yet largely absent) father while unconsciously identifying with a violent [[masculinity]] that dominated women.<ref name="foxbook">{{Cite book|last1=Fox|first1=James Alan|title=Extreme killing: Understanding serial and mass murder|last2=Levin|first2=Jack|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|year=2005|isbn=0-7619-8857-2|pages=227–230}}</ref><ref name="poly">{{cite news|last=Lortie|first=Marie-Claude|date=December 1, 1990|title=Poly un an après : Psychose? Blessures au cerveau? Les spécialistes n'ont pas encore résolu l'énigme Marc Lépine|page=B7|newspaper=[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]]}}</ref> A different theory was that the shooter's childhood experiences of [[child abuse|abuse]] led him to feel victimized as he faced losses and rejections in his later life.<ref name="poly" /> His mother wondered whether her son might have suffered from [[attachment disorder]], due to the abuse and sense of abandonment he had experienced in his childhood.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lépine|first1=Monique|title=Aftermath|last2=Gagné|first2=Harold|publisher=[[Viking Press]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-670-06969-9|pages=138, 161–62}}</ref>

{{anchor|society}}Others framed the killer's actions as the result of societal changes that had led to increased poverty, powerlessness, individual isolation,<ref name="Valpy">{{cite news|last=Valpy|first=Michael|date=December 11, 1989|title=Litany of social ills created Marc Lepine|page=A8|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Canada}}</ref> and polarization between men and women.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Young, Katherine K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA62|title=Legalizing misandry: from public shame to systematic discrimination against men|author2=Nathanson, Paul|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-7735-2862-8|location=Montreal|page=62|oclc=|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020035400/https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA62|archive-date=October 20, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Wong">{{cite news|last=Wong|first=Jan|date=September 16, 2006|title=Get under the desk|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Canada|url=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060915.wxshooting-main16/front/Front/Front/sympatico-front|url-status=dead|access-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410214239/http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060915.wxshooting-main16/front/Front/Front/sympatico-front|archive-date=April 10, 2017}}</ref> Noting the gunman's interest in violent [[action film]]s, some suggested that violence in the media and in society may have influenced his actions.<ref name="cernea" /> Following the shootings at [[Dawson College]] in September 2006, ''[[The Globe and Mail|Globe and Mail]]'' columnist [[Jan Wong]] [[Jan Wong controversy|suggested]] that Lépine may have felt alienated from Quebec society as he was the child of an immigrant; this provoked controversy as Canada has [[Immigration to Canada|received numerous immigrants]].<ref name="Wong" />

In the years since, however, the attack has been widely acknowledged by the public, governments, and the media as a [[Misogyny|misogynistic]] attack on women and on feminism.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":14">{{Cite web|last=Banerjee|first=Sidhartha|date=2019-12-05|title=Polytechnique: Consensus comes 30 years later that massacre was an anti-feminist act|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/polytechnique-consensus-comes-30-years-later-that-massacre-was-an-anti-feminist-act-1.4717274|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-22|website=CTV News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206124214/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/polytechnique-consensus-comes-30-years-later-that-massacre-was-an-anti-feminist-act-1.4717274 |archive-date=December 6, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Northcott|first=Alison|date=December 5, 2019|title=How the way we remember the Montreal Massacre has changed 30 years later|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-thirty-years-anti-feminist-1.5381510|access-date=23 January 2022|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310191306/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-thirty-years-anti-feminist-1.5381510|url-status=live}}</ref>  

Scholars believe that the gunman's actions sprang from widespread societal misogyny, including tolerance of violence against women.<ref name="young5961" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mancini Billson|first1=Janet|title=Female well-being: toward a global theory of social change|editor=Mancini Billson, Janet|editor2=Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn|publisher=[[Zed Books]]|pages=104–05|isbn=978-1-84277-009-2|chapter=After the Montreal massacre: gender and the pervasiveness of violence|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_2eWZK63_8C&pg=PA104|year=2005|access-date=September 20, 2020|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020035407/https://books.google.com/books?id=a_2eWZK63_8C&pg=PA104|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Curry">{{cite book |chapter=Female lives, Feminist deaths |last=Brickman |first=Julie |editor=Curry, Renée R. |editor2=Allison, Terry L. |title=States of rage: emotional eruption, violence, and social change |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |location=New York |year=1996 |isbn=0-8147-1530-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kp0EjoLkmssC&pg=PA27 |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817071951/https://books.google.com/books?id=kp0EjoLkmssC&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}</ref> Criminologists regard the massacre as an example of a [[hate crime|hate or bias crime]] against women, as the victims were selected solely because of their membership in the category of women. The women targeted were interchangeable with other women.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gerstenfeld|first=Phyllis B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJ7OkVzwVMEC&pg=PA49|title=Hate crimes: causes, controls, and controversies|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7619-2814-0|pages=48–49|access-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104123819/https://books.google.com/books?id=sJ7OkVzwVMEC&pg=PA49|archive-date=November 4, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Hate and Bias Crime: A Reader|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-415-94408-3|editor-last=Perry|editor-first=Barbara|page=271|chapter=Gender-bias hate crimes- a review|access-date=September 20, 2020|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLtnNmAt9dwC&pg=PA271|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814171755/https://books.google.com/books?id=zLtnNmAt9dwC&pg=PA271|archive-date=August 14, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> They categorize it as a "pseudo-community" type of "pseudo-commando" murder-suicide, in which the perpetrator targets a specific group, often in a public place, and intends to die in "a blaze of glory".<ref>{{cite book |last=Byard |first=Roger W. |title=Forensic Pathology Reviews |editor=Tsokos, Michael |publisher=Humana Press |year=2005 |volume=3 |page=343 |chapter=Murder-Suicide |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=323vT9cEaSoC&pg=PA343 |isbn=978-1-58829-416-6 |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819014247/https://books.google.com/books?id=323vT9cEaSoC&pg=PA343 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Lawrence |first=Frederick M.| title=Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2002 |pages=15–17 |isbn= 978-0-674-00972-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=959sKkDoLhoC&pg=PT31}}</ref> 

Individuals close to the massacre also commented: Lépine's mother wondered if the attack was [[Matricide|symbolically directed at her]], as some would have classified her as a feminist since she was a single, working mother.<ref name="mother" /> Survivor Nathalie Provost who, during and after the attack, denied being a feminist, later claimed what she said was this "beautiful title" for herself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT138|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=130–1|language=en|access-date=January 23, 2022|archive-date=January 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123155807/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT138|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Camille|first=Chaudron|date=28 November 2014|title=Vingt-cinq ans plus tard avec Nathalie Provost|url=https://www.polyscope.qc.ca/?p=9224|access-date=2022-01-23|website=Le Polyscope|language=fr|archive-date=January 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123155817/https://www.polyscope.qc.ca/?p=9224|url-status=live}}</ref> She also said that she believed the massacre was clearly an antifeminist act.<ref name=":14" />

==Legacy==
[[File:6decembre.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Place du 6-Décembre-1989 (December 6, 1989 Place), Montreal, featuring the artwork ''Nef pour quatorze reines'' (''Nave for Fourteen Queens'') by Rose-Marie Goulet|alt= a long straight walk down the middle of a narrow park is bordered on both sides by trees and roads. At intervals along each side of the path, are series of waist-high boxes]]

The injured and witnesses among university staff and students suffered a variety of physical, social, existential, financial, and psychological consequences, including [[post-traumatic stress disorder]] (PTSD). At least two students died by suicide afterward, and left notes confirming that their deaths were due to distress caused by the massacre.<ref name="jidv">{{cite journal| last1 =Parent| first1 =G| last2 =Cousineau|first2= M| title =Conséquences à long terme d'un ''mass murder'': le cas de Polytechnique, neuf ans plus tard| journal =The International Journal of Victimology| volume =1| issue =3| year =2003| url =http://www.jidv.com/njidv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=189:consequences-a-long-terme-dun-mass-murder-le-cas-de-polytechnique-neuf-ans-plus-tard&catid=109:jidv03&Itemid=391| access-date =December 29, 2006| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090212182223/http://www.jidv.com/njidv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=189%3Aconsequences-a-long-terme-dun-mass-murder-le-cas-de-polytechnique-neuf-ans-plus-tard&catid=109%3Ajidv03&Itemid=391| archive-date =February 12, 2009| df =mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT104|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=99–101|language=en|access-date=January 10, 2022|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011619/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT104|url-status=live}}</ref> Nine years after the event, survivors reported still being affected by their experiences, though some of the effects had lessened.<ref name="jidv" />

===Actions against violence against women===
The massacre galvanized the Canadian women's movement, who immediately saw it as a symbol of [[violence against women]]. "The death of those young women would not be in vain, we promised", Canadian feminist [[Judy Rebick]] recalled. "We would turn our mourning into organizing to put an end to male violence against women."<ref>{{cite news|last=Rebick|first=Judy|date=December 6, 2000|title=Where's the funding for abused women?|publisher=[[CBC News]]|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/columns/rebick/rebick001206.html|access-date=March 7, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321225539/http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/columns/rebick/rebick001206.html|archive-date=March 21, 2007}}</ref>

In response to the killings, a House of Commons Sub-Committee on the Status of Women was created. It released a report "The War against Women" in June 1991, which was not endorsed by the full standing committee.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vienneau|first=David|date=January 19, 1991|title=Probe on violence toward women blocked|page=A4|work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hooks|first1=Tess|title=Female well-being: toward a global theory of social change|last2=LeClerc|first2=Patrice|last3=Beaujot|first3=Roderic|publisher=[[Zed Books]]|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84277-009-2|editor1=Mancini Billson, Janet|pages=102–103|chapter=Women in Canada: a century of struggle|access-date=September 20, 2020|editor2=Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_2eWZK63_8C&pg=PA102|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815172830/https://books.google.com/books?id=a_2eWZK63_8C&pg=PA102|archive-date=August 15, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> But, following its recommendations, the federal government established the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women in August 1991. The panel issued a final report, ''Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence – Achieving Equality'', in June 1993. The panel proposed a two-pronged "National Action Plan" consisting of an "Equality Action Plan" and a "Zero Tolerance Policy" designed to increase women's equality and reduce violence against women through government policy. Critics of the panel said that the plan failed to provide a workable timeline and strategy for implementation and that with more than four hundred recommendations, the final report was too diffuse to make an impact.<ref>{{cite web|last=Harder|first=Sandra|title=Violence against women: the Canadian Panel's final report|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/MR/mr122-e.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312061539/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/MR/mr122-e.htm|archive-date=March 12, 2012|access-date=February 3, 2007|publisher=Government of Canada}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT114|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=109–112|language=en|access-date=January 30, 2022|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130154446/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT114|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Québec, family members of the victims formed a foundation to support organizations combatting violence, particularly violence against women. It has continued throughout all levels of society.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":3" /> Survivors and their relatives have continued to speak about the issue.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lowrie|first=Morgan|date=5 December 2021|title=Polytechnique anniversary comes as Quebec mourns spate of domestic violence killings|publisher=[[CBC News]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/polytechnique-anniversary-quebec-domestic-violence-1.6274178|access-date=30 January 2022|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130154446/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/polytechnique-anniversary-quebec-domestic-violence-1.6274178|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Giguère|first=Frédérique|date=6 December 2021|title="Encore du travail à faire" 32 ans après Polytechnique|work=[[Journal de Montréal]]|url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/12/06/encore-du-travail-a-faire-32-ans-apres-polytechnique|access-date=30 January 2022|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130154448/https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/12/06/encore-du-travail-a-faire-32-ans-apres-polytechnique|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Senior|first1=Paulette|last2=Provost|first2=Nathalie|last3=Rathjen|first3=Heidi|last4=Martin|first4=Lise|last5=Cukier|first5=Wendy|title=Thirty years after the Montreal Massacre, we're still in limbo|language=en|work=[[Toronto Star]]|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/12/05/thirty-years-after-the-montreal-massacre-were-still-in-limbo.html|access-date=2022-02-07|archive-date=February 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207032210/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/12/05/thirty-years-after-the-montreal-massacre-were-still-in-limbo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Researchers increased their study of family violence and violence against women.<ref name=":15" /> On December 6, 1995, the Quebec government adopted the "Policy on Intervention in Conjugal Violence" with the goal of detecting, preventing and ending [[domestic violence]].<ref name=":15" />

===Gun control===
{{Further|Gun politics in Canada}}

The massacre was a major spur for the Canadian gun control movement.<ref name="Dec6">{{cite book| last1 =Rathjen| first1 =Heidi| first2 =Charles |last2=Montpetit| title =December 6: From the Montreal Massacre to Gun Control| publisher =McClelland & Stewart| year =1999| location =Toronto| isbn =0-7710-6125-0| url-access =registration| url =https://archive.org/details/december6frommon0000rath}}</ref> Less than a week after the event, two École Polytechnique professors created a petition addressed to the Canadian government demanding tighter gun control; and more than half a million signatures were collected.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=en|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|date=2020|publisher=Second Story Press|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=139|language=en|access-date=January 19, 2022|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011618/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=en|url-status=live}}</ref> Heidi Rathjen, a student who was in one of the classrooms that Lépine skipped, organized the Coalition for Gun Control with Wendy Cukier to pressure for a gun registry and increased firearm regulation.<ref name="Dec6" /><ref name=":7"/> Suzanne Laplante-Edward and Jim Edward, parents of one of the victims, were also deeply involved.<ref>{{cite news | last =Boyd| first =Denny| title =Couple salvages purpose from their daughter's tragic death|page =B1|work=[[Vancouver Sun]] | date = April 20, 1992}}</ref> 

Their activities, along with others, led to the passage of Bill C-17 in 1992, and C-68, commonly known as the ''[[Firearms Act, 1995|Firearms Act]]'', in 1995, ushering in stricter gun control regulations.<ref name="Dec6" /> These new regulations included requirements on the training of gun owners, [[background check|screening]] of firearm applicants, a 28-day waiting period on new applicants, rules concerning safe firearm and ammunition storage, the [[Canadian Firearms Registry|registration of all firearms]], magazine capacity limits to 5 rounds for [[Semi-automatic rifle|semi automatic rifles]] and 10 rounds for [[semi-automatic pistols]], and reclassifying some additional firearms as restricted or prohibited. In 2009, survivors of the massacre, their families, and Polytechnique students past and present came together to create [[PolySeSouvient]] in opposition to legislative actions by [[Stephen Harper]]'s [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] government aimed at ending the registration of ordinary long guns.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=PT150|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|date=2020|publisher=Second Story Press|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=140|language=en|access-date=January 19, 2022|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011623/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=PT150|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Susan |last=Delacourt |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/734816--long-gun-registry-politics-taint-service-for-the-victims |title=Long-gun registry politics taint service for the victims |work=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=December 6, 2009 |date=December 5, 2009 |archive-date=December 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208110609/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/734816--long-gun-registry-politics-taint-service-for-the-victims |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/864488--a-mother-s-battle-to-save-the-long-gun-registry|title=A mother's battle to save the long-gun registry|work=[[Toronto Star]]|last=Fedio|first=Chloe|access-date=November 6, 2010|date=September 21, 2010|archive-date=September 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924074508/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/864488--a-mother-s-battle-to-save-the-long-gun-registry|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Ingrid|last=Peritz|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-slap-in-the-face-for-victims/article1390008/|title='A slap in the face' for victims|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Canada|access-date=December 6, 2009|date=December 6, 2009|archive-date=December 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208012058/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-slap-in-the-face-for-victims/article1390008/|url-status=live}}</ref> The long-gun registry was abolished by the Harper government in April 2012,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/05/long-gun-registry-end-celebrated-by-harper-tories/ |title=Long-gun registry end to be celebrated by Tories as fury mounts in Quebec |work=[[National Post]] |date=April 5, 2012 |access-date=December 5, 2012 |archive-date=October 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20211013164909/https://nationalpost.com/category/news/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=PT151|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|date=2020|publisher=Second Story Press|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=141|language=en|access-date=January 19, 2022|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822011622/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&q=PT151|url-status=live}}</ref> but the Quebec government won a temporary injunction, preventing the destruction of the province's gun registry data, and ordering the continued registration of long guns in Quebec.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/21/quebec-court-backs-gun-registry-sets-stage-for-federal-legal-battle/ |title=Quebec court backs long-gun registry, sets stage for federal legal battle |first=Sue |last=Montgomery |work=[[National Post]] |date=April 21, 2012 |access-date=December 5, 2012 |archive-date=October 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20211013164909/https://nationalpost.com/category/news/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":8"/> In March 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Quebec, allowing the destruction of all the federal registry data,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2015/2015scc14/2015scc14.html|title=CanLII – 2015 SCC 14 (CanLII)|publisher=[[CanLII]]|access-date=December 18, 2015|archive-date=March 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311225101/https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2015/2015scc14/2015scc14.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8"/> although Quebec created its own provincial gun registry to replace it.<ref name=":8"/> Since its creation, PolySeSouvient, with survivors Nathalie Provost and Heidi Rathjen as spokespersons, has continued to be active in lobbying for stricter gun control and safety in Quebec and Canada. In 2018 [[Justin Trudeau]]'s [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] government introduced Bill C-71, which restored the requirement for sales of firearms to be registered,<ref name=":8"/> but PolySeSouvient denounced the proposed regulations as ineffective and incomplete. In 2020, in the wake of the [[2020 Nova Scotia attacks|mass killing in Nova Scotia]], and while also citing the École Polytechnique massacre, Trudeau announced a ban on around 1,500 models of "military-grade [[assault-style weapons]]", including the [[Ruger Mini-14]] used for the killings in Montreal.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Walsh|first1=Marieke|last2=Curry|first2=Bill|last3=Stone|first3=Laura|date=2021-09-03|title=Conservatives would repeal ban on guns used in École Polytechnique, Nova Scotia mass shootings|language=en-CA|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservatives-would-repeal-ban-on-guns-used-in-ecole-polytechnique/|access-date=2022-01-12|archive-date=January 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112032512/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservatives-would-repeal-ban-on-guns-used-in-ecole-polytechnique/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Justin Trudeau announces federal ban on assault-style firearms in Canada|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/justin-trudeau-announces-federal-ban-on-military-grade-assault-weapons-in-canada-full-transcript/|url-status=live|website=Macleans|archivedate=May 3, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503030318/https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/justin-trudeau-announces-federal-ban-on-military-grade-assault-weapons-in-canada-full-transcript/ |date=2020-05-01 |access-date=2022-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bronskill|first=Jim|date=2020-05-01|title=Trudeau announces ban on 1,500 types of 'military-style' guns|url=https://www.cp24.com/news/trudeau-announces-ban-on-1-500-types-of-military-style-guns-1.4920606|access-date=2022-01-12|website=CP24|language=en|archive-date=January 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112032514/https://www.cp24.com/news/trudeau-announces-ban-on-1-500-types-of-military-style-guns-1.4920606|url-status=live}}</ref>  PolySeSouvient welcomed the news, but critiqued the possibility of a [[Grandfather clause|grandfathering]] clause for the weapons as a danger to public safety.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bronskill|first=Jim|date=2020-05-14|title=Optional buyback program could see assault-style gun ban unravel, group warns|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/optional-buyback-program-could-see-assault-style-gun-ban-unravel-group-warns-1.4938907 |access-date=2022-01-12|publisher=CTVNews|language=en|archive-date=January 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112032512/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/optional-buyback-program-could-see-assault-style-gun-ban-unravel-group-warns-1.4938907 |url-status=live}}</ref> On December 5th, 2024, one day before the anniversary of the massacre, the Government of Canada announced that they will be extending the previous 2020 "military-grade [[assault-style weapons]] ban" order in council with another OIC. This ban consists of 104 families of firearms, encompassing 324 unique makes and models, all of them semi-automatic. There will also be a mandatory buyback program with an [[amnesty]] deadline expiring on October 30, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Public Safety |date=2024-12-05 |title=Government of Canada extends list of prohibited assault-style firearms and moves forward on regulatory changes to strengthen gun control |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/news/2024/12/government-of-canada-extends-list-of-prohibited-assault-style-firearms-and-moves-forward-on-regulatory-changes-to-strengthen-gun-control.html |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>

==Controversy==
The feminist movement has been criticized for appropriating the massacre as a symbol of male violence against women.<ref name=":16">{{cite book|author1=Young, Katherine K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA61|title=Legalizing misandry: from public shame to systematic discrimination against men|author2=Nathanson, Paul|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-7735-2862-8|location=Montreal|pages=61–63|oclc=|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815122514/https://books.google.com/books?id=cqKxhhu55SMC&pg=PA61|archive-date=August 15, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1990 journalist Roch Côté responded to the publication of ''Polytechnique, 6 décembre'', a feminist memorial anthology, with an essay entitled ''Manifeste d'un salaud'' where he suggested that feminists used the massacre as a chance to unleash "insanities".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=91|language=en|access-date=February 6, 2022|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160017/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite web|last=Nadeau|first=Jean-François|date=14 December 2014|title=Lingering taboo stifles artistic response to Polytechnique massacre|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/lingering-taboo-stifles-artistic-response-to-polytechnique-massacre|access-date=2022-02-06|website=[[Montreal Gazette]]|language=en-CA|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160019/https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/lingering-taboo-stifles-artistic-response-to-polytechnique-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Men's rights movement|Men's rights]] and [[Antifeminism|antifeminist]] commentators state that feminism has provoked violence against women and, without explicitly condoning the shootings, view the massacre as an extreme expression of men's frustrations.<ref name="conway166">{{cite book|last=Conway|first=John Frederick|url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfamilyin0000conw_u3s7|title=The Canadian family in crisis|publisher=James Lorimer and Company|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55028-798-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianfamilyin0000conw_u3s7/page/166 166]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="meyers">{{cite book|last=Meyers|first=Helene|url=https://archive.org/details/femicidalfearsna00meye|title=Femicidal fears: narratives of the female gothic experience|publisher=[[State University of New York#SUNY Press|SUNY Press]]|year=2001|isbn=0-7914-5151-8|location=Albany, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/femicidalfearsna00meye/page/3 3]–4|url-access=registration}}</ref> Some antifeminists see the killer as a hero, glorifying his actions,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Boissoneault|first=Lorraine|title=The Mass Shooting That Reshaped the Canadian Debate About Guns and Political Identity|language=en|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mass-shooting-reshaped-canadian-debate-about-guns-and-political-identity-180962013/|url-status=live|access-date=April 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429093100/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mass-shooting-reshaped-canadian-debate-about-guns-and-political-identity-180962013/|archive-date=April 29, 2018}}</ref><ref name="blais">{{cite book|last=Blais|first=Mélissa|title=Le mouvement masculiniste au Québec|publisher=Les Éditions du remue-ménage|year=2008|isbn=978-0-670-06969-9|editor=Blais, Mélissa|pages=86–92|language=fr-ca|chapter=Marc Lépine: heros ou martyr? Le masculinisme et la tuerie de l'École polytechnique|editor2=[[Francis Dupuis-Déri|Dupuis-Déri, Francis]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Tremblay|first=Stephane|date=March 31, 2010|title=Anti-feminist blogger calls himself 'masculinist activist'|newspaper=[[Toronto Sun]]|url=http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/03/31/13429581-qmi.html|url-status=live|access-date=December 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114061421/http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/03/31/13429581-qmi.html|archive-date=January 14, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Csanady|first=Ashley|date=October 15, 2014|title=The bizarre love for Marc Lépine among men's rights groups|language=en-ca|work=[[Postmedia News]]|url=http://o.canada.com/news/the-bizarre-love-for-marc-lepine-among-mens-rights-groups|url-status=live|access-date=April 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427203329/http://o.canada.com/news/the-bizarre-love-for-marc-lepine-among-mens-rights-groups|archive-date=April 27, 2018}}</ref> and threatening violence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nicoud|first=Anabelle|date=November 12, 2009|title=Des disciples de Marc Lépine font fuir un réalisateur|language=fr-ca|newspaper=[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Press]]|url=http://moncinema.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles-et-critiques/nouvelles/nouvelle-cinema/9968-des-disciples-de-marc-lepine-font-fuir-un-realisateur.html|url-status=unfit|access-date=March 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227090402/http://moncinema.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles-et-critiques/nouvelles/nouvelle-cinema/9968-des-disciples-de-marc-lepine-font-fuir-un-realisateur.html|archive-date=December 27, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hanes|first=Alison|date=December 2, 2005|title=Man threatens to repeat Montreal massacre|page=A9|work=[[Ottawa Citizen]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=113|language=en|access-date=December 22, 2021|archive-date=January 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115161350/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Male survivors of the massacre have been criticised for not intervening to stop the shooter. In an interview immediately after the event, a reporter asked one of the men why they "abandoned" the women when it was clear that his targets were women.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lakeman|first=Lee|title=Women, Violence and the Montreal Massacre|url=http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/dec6/leearticle.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419184040/http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/dec6/leearticle.html|archive-date=April 19, 2007|access-date=April 20, 2007|publisher=[[Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter]]|df=mdy}}</ref> [[René Jalbert]], the [[Sergeant-at-Arms|sergeant-at-arms]] who persuaded Lortie to surrender, said that someone should have intervened at least to distract Lépine, but acknowledged that "ordinary citizens cannot be expected to react heroically in the midst of terror".<ref name="macleans" /> Conservative newspaper columnist [[Mark Steyn]] suggested that male inaction during the massacre illustrated a "culture of passivity" prevalent among men in Canada, which enabled the shooting spree.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Steyn|first=Mark|date=April 18, 2007|title=A Culture of Passivity|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/220650/culture-passivity-mark-steyn|url-status=live|magazine=[[National Review]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426062025/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/220650/culture-passivity-mark-steyn|archive-date=April 26, 2017|access-date=April 25, 2017}}</ref> Male students and staff expressed feelings of remorse for not having attempted to prevent the shootings.<ref name="cernea" /> This issue has been strongly rejected by the Polytechnique student community.<ref name=":11" /> [[Nathalie Provost]], one of the female survivors, said that she felt that nothing could have been done to prevent the tragedy and that her fellow students should not feel guilty.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kastor|first=Elizabeth|date=December 11, 1989|title=In Montreal, A Survivor Heals After The Horror; 23-Year-Old Student Tried To Reason With Killer|page=B1|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Asmaa Mansour, another survivor, emphasized the actions of the men in saving her life and in helping the injured.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|last=Boileau|first=Josée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ|title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre|publisher=Second Story Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-77260-143-5|pages=102–3|language=en|access-date=December 22, 2021|archive-date=January 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115161350/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Commemoration{{Anchor|Commemoration}}==
[[Image:nef-detail.jpg|thumb|upright=2|The ''Nef pour quatorze reines (Nave for fourteen queens)'', detail|alt=a waist high grey box is carved with a large H; the rest of Hélène Colgan's name is spelled out in large raised lettering on the ground of the park]]
Since 1991, the anniversary of the massacre has been designated the [[National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women]], intended as a call to action against discrimination against women.<ref name="Day" /> A [[White Ribbon Campaign]] was launched in 1991 by a group of men in [[London, Ontario]] in the wake of the massacre, for the purpose of raising awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms".<ref>{{cite news|title = Men wearing white ribbons|work=[[CBC News]]|date = November 27, 1991|url = http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398-2240/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110629023429/http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398-2240/|archive-date = June 29, 2011|access-date = March 7, 2007}}</ref>

The Place du 6-Décembre-1989 in the [[Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce]] borough of Montreal was created as a memorial to the victims of the massacre. Located at the corner of Decelles Avenue and [[Queen Mary Road (Montreal)|Queen Mary Road]], a short distance from the university, it includes the art installation ''Nef pour quatorze reines'' (''[[Nave]] for Fourteen Queens'') by Rose-Marie Goulet.<ref>{{cite news |title = Monument to slain women unveiled | work = [[CBC News]] | date = December 5, 1999 | url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/monument-to-slain-women-unveiled-1.192406  | access-date = January 4, 2007 |url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071111062104/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/1999/12/05/memorialsun991205.html | archive-date = November 11, 2007}}</ref> Originally described as a memorial for a "tragic event", in 2019, the plaque was changed to reflect indicate that the attack was antifeminist and that 14 women were killed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Northcott|first=Alison|date=December 5, 2019|title=How the way we remember the Montreal Massacre has changed 30 years later|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-thirty-years-anti-feminist-1.5381510|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310191306/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-thirty-years-anti-feminist-1.5381510|archive-date=March 10, 2021|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>

Events are held across the country each year on December 6 in memory of the slain women and numerous memorials have been built.<ref name="citynews" />  The memorial in Vancouver sparked controversy because it was dedicated to "all women murdered by men", which critics say implies all men are potential murderers.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Campbell|first=Charles|date=November 11, 2004|title=Magnets for Memory|url=https://thetyee.ca/Life/2004/11/11/MagnetsforMemory/|url-status=live|magazine=[[The Tyee]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112182043/http://thetyee.ca/Life/2004/11/11/MagnetsforMemory/|archive-date=November 12, 2007|access-date=December 31, 2006}}</ref> Women involved in the project received death threats and the Vancouver Park Board banned future memorials that might antagonize other groups.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Rachelle|date=April 19, 2006|title=Book a Monument to Canadian Women Murdered by Men|url=http://www.missingpeople.net/book_a_monument_to_canadian_wome.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614235138/http://www.missingpeople.net/book_a_monument_to_canadian_wome.htm|archive-date=June 14, 2006|access-date=December 31, 2006|publisher=MissingPeople.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ingram|first=Gordon Brent|date=February 2, 2000|title=Contests over social memory in waterfront Vancouver: Historical editing & obfuscation through public art|url=http://gordonbrentingram.ca/scholarship/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ingram-2000-contests-over-social-memory-in-waterfront-vancouver.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706181935/http://gordonbrentingram.ca/scholarship/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ingram-2000-contests-over-social-memory-in-waterfront-vancouver.pdf|archive-date=July 6, 2011|access-date=December 31, 2006|publisher=on the w@terfront}}</ref>

[[File:Commémoration de la tuerie de l'École polytechnique de Montréal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|On the 25th anniversary, fourteen light beams representing the 14 victims shine from [[Mount Royal]].]]

Since the commemorative ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the massacre in 2014, fourteen searchlights representing the women killed have been installed annually on the summit of [[Mount Royal]]. At 5:10&nbsp;p.m., the time when the attack began, the name of each victim is read, and a light beam is projected upward into the sky.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 6, 2014|title=Se souvenir de Polytechnique|language=fr-ca|work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|Radio-Canada]]|url=http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2014/12/06/001-ceremonies-commemoration-polytechnique-25-ans-montreal.shtml|url-status=live|access-date=August 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407070825/http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2014/12/06/001-ceremonies-commemoration-polytechnique-25-ans-montreal.shtml|archive-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=December 6, 2021|title=Quebec remembers École Polytechnique mass shooting at 32nd anniversary ceremonies|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-montreal-ecole-polytechnique-32-anniversary-mass-shooting-1.6275034|access-date=January 1, 2022|archive-date=January 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101211308/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-montreal-ecole-polytechnique-32-anniversary-mass-shooting-1.6275034|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2019-12-06|title=Polytechnique: Events planned across Canada to mark grim 30th anniversary|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/polytechnique-events-planned-across-canada-to-mark-grim-30th-anniversary-1.4718110|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-01|website=Montreal|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206170746/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/polytechnique-events-planned-across-canada-to-mark-grim-30th-anniversary-1.4718110 |archive-date=December 6, 2019 }}</ref> The event is attended by local and national leaders.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 6, 2019|title='Tragedy into a triumph': 14 beams of light shine as Montreal Massacre remembered|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-montreal-massacre-ceremony-1.5378847|access-date=January 1, 2022|archive-date=January 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101211311/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ecole-polytechnique-montreal-massacre-ceremony-1.5378847|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1"/>

The Anne-Marie Edward Science Building at [[John Abbott College]], constructed in 2013, was named in honour of one of the victims who had attended the CEGEP before going on to university.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/john-abbott-college-opened-horizons-for-anne-marie-edward|title=John Abbott College opened horizons for Anne-Marie Edward|last=Greenaway|first=Kathryn|date=April 23, 2013|work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]|access-date=April 28, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429093320/http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/john-abbott-college-opened-horizons-for-anne-marie-edward|url-status=live}}</ref> The Order of the White Rose was established in 2014 to provide a $30,000 national scholarship for female engineering graduate students.<!-- wonky punctuation --> The selection committee is chaired by [[Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire]],<ref name="PolyRose">{{cite web|url=http://www.polymtl.ca/carrefour-actualite/en/news/25-years-after-tragedy-polytechnique-montreal-launches-order-white-rose-and-week-white-rose|title=25 years after the tragedy, Polytechnique Montréal launches the Order of the White Rose and the Week of the White Rose|work=Carrefour de l'Actualité|publisher=Polytechnique Montreal|date=October 31, 2014|access-date=November 24, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031956/http://www.polymtl.ca/carrefour-actualite/en/news/25-years-after-tragedy-polytechnique-montreal-launches-order-white-rose-and-week-white-rose|url-status=live}}</ref> the first female graduate of École Polytechnique.<ref name="GrandsThibodeau">{{cite web|url=http://grandsmontrealais.ccmm.qc.ca/en/120/|title=Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire|publisher=[[Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal|Chambre de commerce de Montreal]]|date=2001|access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=January 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210850/http://grandsmontrealais.ccmm.qc.ca/en/120/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Depiction in media==
The event has also been commemorated in the arts. The critically acclaimed movie [[Polytechnique (film)|''Polytechnique'']], directed by [[Denis Villeneuve]], was released in 2009 and caused discussion over the desirability of reliving the tragedy in a mainstream film.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelley |first=Brendan |date=January 1, 2009 |title=Polytechnique: open to debate |work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]] |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/Polytechnique+open+debate/1236248/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418002308/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Polytechnique%2Bopen%2Bdebate/1236248/story.html |archive-date=April 18, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Graeme |date=January 28, 2009 |title=Montreal massacre film brings up 'too many memories' |work=[[National Post]] |location=Canada |url=https://nationalpost.com/related/topics/Montreal%2Bmassacre%2Bfilm%2Bbrings%2Bmany%2Bmemories/1228750/story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=November 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20101023220959/http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Montreal+massacre+film+brings+many+memories/1228750/story.html |archive-date=October 23, 2010 |df=mdy}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{cite book |last=Boileau |first=Josée |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |title=Because They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre |publisher=Second Story Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-77260-143-5 |pages=146–7 |language=en |access-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206193434/https://books.google.com/books?id=aHwpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |url-status=live }}</ref>   In a play about the shootings by [[Adam Kelly]] called ''[[The Anorak]]'', the audience are separated by gender: it was named as one of the best plays of 2004 by the [[Montreal Gazette|Montreal ''Gazette'']].<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":17" /> [[Colleen Murphy (filmmaker)|Colleen Murphy's]] play ''The December Man (L'homme de décembre)'' was first staged in Calgary in 2007.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Posner |first=Michael |date=April 10, 2008 |title=A brutal massacre makes for a delicate art |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/a-brutal-massacre-makes-for-a-delicate-art/article1054299/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331122619/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/a-brutal-massacre-makes-for-a-delicate-art/article1054299/ |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |access-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":17" />  [[Wajdi Mouawad]]'s 2007 play ''Forêts'' was inspired by and contains echoes of the tragedy.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":10" /> In 2009 Quebec playwright Gilbert Turp wrote ''Pur chaos du désir'', which examined a marriage breakdown in the aftermath of the Polytechnique killings.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":10" /> Several songs have been written about the events, including "This Memory" by the folk duo the [[Wyrd Sisters (band)|Wyrd Sisters]],<ref name=":0" /> "Montreal"' by [[The Tragically Hip]]<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tragically-hip-saskadelphia-1.6033831 "Tragically Hip to release album with 6 unreleased tracks"]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609025318/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tragically-hip-saskadelphia-1.6033831|date=June 9, 2021}}. [[CBC News]], May 20, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLb52ILCgw The Tragically Hip - Montréal (Live From Molson Center, Montréal/2000)] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210101303/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLb52ILCgw |date=December 10, 2022 }}) on [[YouTube]], 6 December 2021.</ref> and "6 December 1989" by the Australian singer [[Judy Small]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tomm |first=Winnie |date=October 30, 2010 |title=Bodied Mindfulness: Women's Spirits, Bodies and Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_dnfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817025346/https://books.google.com/books?id=_dnfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]] |pages=75 |isbn=9781554588022 |access-date=September 20, 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[2014 Isla Vista killings]], a killing spree in the United States in which misogyny was cited as one of the killer's motives
* [[2018 Toronto van attack]], another mass killing in Canada motivated in part by misogyny
* [[Port Arthur massacre (Australia)|Port Arthur massacre]], a 1996 shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, that similarly changed opinion on gun control in that country
* ''[[Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument]]'', a monument in Canada to women killed by men
* [[List of massacres in Canada]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/society/crime-justice/the-montreal-massacre/topic-the-montreal-massacre.html CBC Digital Archives]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130113151051/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/marc_lepine/index.html Crime Library]

{{subject bar|auto=y|d=y|Canada|Law|1980s}}
{{Mass shootings in Canada}}
{{School shootings in Canada}}
{{MtlHist}}
{{UdeM}}
{{Authority control}}

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