“We will keep gathering and remembering them for as long as it takes.” The sad and solemn night dedicated to remembering the 14 women slain at École Polytechnique de Montréal on Dec. 6, 1989 returned to pre-Pandemic levels Wednesday evening. Over two dozen people attended the candlelight vigil at Benson Park. Alternatives for Women hosted the event as part of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The message from those who took part,  laying roses in honour of the victims of the massacre was clear. No matter the timeline, in all its forms, violence against women must end. AFW executive director Julie Watson said people’s warmth on a cold and still night in early December was heartening. “The turnout tonight is more than we’ve seen in a while and that illustrates how caring a community we have — and that women in Prince Edward County that are struggling have advocates and people who will support them,” said Ms. Watson. A total of 62 Canadian women have been lost this year through femicide. The term, one that AFW advocates for, describes gender-based murder, the result of intimate partner violence that is often predictable. That number represents an increase of 15 per cent, or 10 more women than were killed in 2022. After roses remembering the 14 victims of the Montreal Massacre were laid, a final rose honoured women lost to gender-based and intimate partner violence in 2023. The rose also signified support for those women struggling to survive through the cycles of domestic abuse and harm. “We say to women in crisis and those who seek to join us in ending violence against women: call us, we are here for you,” she said. Ms. Baines noted mourners gathered on the traditional lands of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee peoples. AFW knows women of indigenous ancestry face intimate partner and gender-based violence at a far higher rate than other women in Canada. “Working all together, one day we will triumph.”