Fleeting and Timeless

Within this illustration, I want to capture the lasting impact of the Polytechnique Massacre in our
lives. 35 years after this tragedy, the lives of these 14 murdered women remain frozen in 1989.
Their time on this earth was fleeting– many of them were soon-to-be graduates who could have
influenced their respective fields of engineering and nursing. I’ve drawn them out as they were
on December 6, 1989: they are joyful students, friends, and peers. The memories of these
women remain a constant in their loved ones’ lives, while they also live with an endless
emptiness.
One man’s hatred of feminism ended their lives abruptly and violently.
Although 35 years have passed, sentiments of antifeminism still exist, taking new forms across
social media and political stances. The two women looking onwards represent students like
myself. When we learned about the massacre in school, we wondered how someone could hate
women pursuing education so much and what we would do in that situation.
These women remain constellations over Montreal- they are ever-present representations of
academic excellence, tragedy, and power, shining brighter when we remember them.
We need to remember tragedies like the Montreal Massacre to prevent them from reoccurring.